Surrogacy
by FreeformFay72
Summary: Will and Nico have been a couple for a long time. But when Will tells Nico of his old dream of having kids, and their records prevent them from adopting, Nico turns to an alternative. Kind of an AU. Solangelo. Part 1 of Solangelo Family Adventures.
1. Dreams

**_AN: So, this is an AU and it's a side project, but there will be a couple characters that I'm using from my other series. Enjoy!_**

Nico could tell that something was eating away at Will. After living together for the past five or six years, he had come to be familiar with the passing moods of his boyfriend. Most of the time, Will's quieter moods and sulkiness could be attributed to losing a patient.

But on a beautiful day like today, with the sun shining brightly on them as they sat in a cheerful park with ice cream…

Nico frowned at Will, "What?"

Will looked at him, startled, "Huh?"

Nico growled slightly, "You've hardly touched your ice cream and you've been way too quiet for the past week. Maybe longer. I've been having to hold all of the conversations, and half the time you aren't even listening. I've said some pretty wild stuff and you didn't even bat an eye. What's going on?"

Will sighed, "Sorry, I didn't mean to be so…"

"Distant, passive, worrying?"

"Let's stick with distant. I guess I've just had some things on my mind." Will ran a hand through his shaggy blond hair.

"Like?" Nico pressed, finally just tossing out his ice cream cone. He couldn't finish it. He was finally getting answers.

Will looked uncomfortable, "It's just…it's nothing. Really."

Nico felt his jaw drop. He couldn't believe Will had just said that. His Will had just avoided something, which meant it was really important. And Nico hated when Will kept important things from him. Will just lied to him.

"Seriously Nico, it's not important."

Nico's mouth shut with a click as his teeth hit each other. "Home, now. You're in trouble."

Will groaned, "Nico."

"Now, Will." Nico clenched his teeth, and gripped Will's wrist. He pulled the taller boy after him, despite protests from Will and amused looks from passersby. He pulled him all the way to their house in their nice quiet neighborhood, unlocked the door and dragged Will into the living room. He propelled his boyfriend onto the couch and then stood there with his arms crossed.

"First off, we don't lie to each other. Never." Nico started angrily, "Secondly, you've been worrying me for over a week with what you're calling nothing, but you aren't acting like yourself so it must be something. And I swear if you haven't told me what it is within the next five minutes I'm going to come at you with my sword and you'll wish you could die."

Will shifted slightly, his gaze dropping to the floor, "I was just thinking about what I wanted when I was younger."

Nico scowled, "Okay…and?"

Will glanced up quickly, just enough for Nico to be able to tell that he was embarrassed and worried.

"And…I don't know. I guess I still want some of the things. But, they aren't exactly possible." Will mumbled.

Nico's concern grew, "Why?"

Will rubbed his face with his hands, "Because…I…" He sighed.

"You what, Will?" Nico heard his own voice break, desperate to find out what was bothering the person he loved most.

Will finally looked up at Nico, his face sad. Heart-wrenchingly sad. And he just barely said, "I wanted to have kids."

Nico flinched, "Oh." It wasn't that he was against having kids. He wasn't. But with Nico's record (stupid monsters), it wasn't like they could adopt or foster any kids. And they weren't like the gods: gender did matter when it came to giving birth. Nico would never forget those awkward health classes. More than that, Will's dream was obviously from before he fell for Nico, and that reminder that Will was a little Bi was not a welcome one in Nico's mind.

Will had his head in his hands, his elbows on his knees, eerily quiet.

Nico swallowed and sat down beside Will, "That's…"

"Not possible. I know." Will said again.

Nico's mind raced, trying to find a solution.

That's when he remembered something Cassie had said during their Iris Message a couple days ago.

"What about a surrogate?" Nico said softly, hugging himself since Will wasn't doing so.

"Right, because those are so easy to find. Plus they do background checks, how would we explain your record?"

Nico shifted, "If we can get the person I'm thinking of, we could just tell the truth."

Will sat up and looked at Nico in confusion, "Who were you thinking of?"

"Her name is Megara, she's a daughter of Eileithyia. Cassie was telling me that she's a midwife, but that she's also a surrogate. I could ask Cassie for her number to set up a meeting." Nico offered. He was worried that he was getting Will's hopes up, but it didn't hurt to try asking her, did it?

Will frowned at the floor, "I don't know…"

"Look, I'm supposed to go visit Cassie tomorrow anyway. She's on bed rest and is desperate for company. I'll ask about Megara and find out more, and if Cassie thinks that Megara would do it, then I'll text you and you can let me know if you at least want to ask." Nico wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's chest.

Will's arms went around Nico, "Alright."

Nico gave a squeeze, hoping that he hadn't just set them both up for disappointment.


	2. Inquiry

Nico knocked on the door since the doorbell looked like it had been smashed in with a hammer.

Malcolm opened the door, "Hey, Nico, come on in. Maybe she'll listen to you."

"Listen to me?"

"She's supposed to be on bed rest but she keeps getting up and baking." Malcolm shook his head, tying his tie, "And I can't stay to monitor her. Try to get her to stop?"

Nico smirked, "Do my best. But Cassie has a will of her own."

"Don't I know it." The son of Athena chuckled slightly, then led the way into the kitchen.

Nico relaxed at the delicious smell of freshly baked Challah bread, chocolate chip cookies, and bacon.

Cassie turned and grinned, "Hey, Nico, thanks for visiting me."

Nico chuckled, "Because you're on bed rest and shouldn't be baking?"

She rolled her eyes, "I'm fine."

"The midwife says you aren't. Please, Cass. Try to rest?" Malcolm gave her a kiss, "I love you."

"I love you, have a nice day at work."

"I will if you rest."

"Nice try." She called in a sing-song voice.

Nico examined his friend, his very pregnant friend. Honestly, if her stomach wasn't so huge, he wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Her golden-brown hair framed her face the way it had for years, and she didn't seem to have gained weight.

The only thing he really noticed was how right the midwife was. He could sense the possibility of death.

"Cassie, seriously, you need to rest." He said, grabbing a hot-pad and taking the pan from her. "Now. Go."

She met his gaze, and he realized that she was already afraid. She was afraid of what would happen if she didn't rest. She feared losing the child more than he had seen her fear anything else.

"Go," He said more gently, realizing how fragile she actually was at the moment. He didn't want her to be too afraid, he just needed her to know it was serious enough.

She blinked a couple times and went into the living room, carefully lowering herself onto the couch, "How's Will?"

Nico got the last couple of cookies off the pan, "He's good. We're good. He hasn't lost any patients in a while, so he's doing really good."

"But?" She always could tell when something was wrong.

"Well, we were talking about…kids."

"Ah, because of that time you were arrested you can't adopt or foster."

"Right," Nico sighed, trying to figure out how to convey what he wanted to ask her.

"You should talk to Megara about having a surrogate." Cassie suggested as if it was logical.

"What?" Nico was surprised that Cassie had said it so easily.

"Well, she's an ideal candidate for you and Will. She gets the half-blood problems, and she's super sweet and kind. Her mother is the goddess of childbirth and midwifery, which has given her some really useful abilities." Cassie shrugged, "She would do it if I told her you're a friend."

Nico sat down in the armchair next to her, "Are you sure?"

She smiled and nodded, "Like I said, she's super sweet. And there would be a fee, obviously, but she's pretty fair about it all. She's checking on me around lunch if you want to talk to her about it." Cassie's hand went to her stomach and she smiled.

Nico grinned, "Kicking?"

She took his hand and placed it where the baby was kicking.

He grinned, "So, I'm the god-father, right?"

She laughed, "Sorry, Nico. Not for this one. Maybe the next."

He made a face, "Don't tell me one of the Stolls is the godfather?"

"Connor, and yes." She relaxed back on the couch for a moment, "I cannot wait for this little guy to get out."

"When are you due?" Nico readjusted in his chair.

"Two or three weeks. Meg is hoping three. I'm hoping two."

"I would have to agree with the midwife. Just because she should know what's best."

Cassie sighed, "I know, she's been amazing. Malcolm's been amazing. He finished decorating the nursery, and he's made sure to keep his summer schedule to a minimum for when the baby does come. Sure, our income takes a small hit, but he's here and I'm happy."

"Plus your next book comes out in a couple days."

"Yeah, that will pad my income quite a bit." She winced, "Okay, I don't need that lung."

He snickered, "Sounds like he's having fun. Too much sugar?"

"Cookie dough was my craving this morning." She explained, "But back to the kids thing. You said Will wants kids. What about you?"

He put his feet on the footstool, "I want them too. Not just because they'll make him happy. I just…feel like that's the next logical step. And, I don't know, I guess it is partially because he would be so happy and excited. That's part of being in a committed relationship, right?" He found himself staring at the wedding photo on the wall, the one with Cassie, Malcolm, Will and himself. That had been a fun day. A really happy day.

"I guess that depends on your beliefs. Mine say marriage, then sex, then kids. But you know how I am."

He did know how she was. She was one of the most frustratingly firm people: she knew what she believed, why she believed it, and while she would listen to your arguments, most of the time she could not be convinced otherwise. She had this mix of beliefs that she held onto, and Nico respected it. She respected him. She was a little old-fashioned, but Nico didn't know the extent of it. He knew that some of the gay stuff made her uncomfortable, but she still respected him and Will. She never said anything to make him feel judged. He was pretty sure it just surprised her sometimes.

"Yeah, I know how you are. Old fashioned." He teased lightly, "And I'm the one from the forties."

She grinned at him.

The front door opened, "Hey, Cassie. Sorry I'm early."

"Hey Meg, we're in the living room!"

Nico quickly whipped out his phone and shot Will a text, asking if he should ask her.

"Alright, I'll be in in a sec, I've got to use your bathroom."

"No problem."

Nico tapped his foot impatiently.

Finally his phone beeped.

 _If you're sure it's what you want, too._

Nico grinned, suddenly more certain than ever. The world needed more Wills.


	3. Megara

Megara was not what Nico expected.

Nico wasn't that tall, maybe 5'10.

Cassie was about 5'6.

Megara was about 5'3, and slightly built. She had light blonde hair in a pixie cut that just made her look cute (Nico didn't like that he thought that), and young. She looked really young. She had blue eyes, but they were the pale blue of a wintry sky (not summer-sky blue like Will's). And if she was wearing more gender-neutral clothes, and one couldn't see her face, her body would easily allow her to pass for a boy.

When Cassie introduced them, Meg smiled a brilliantly warm smile, "I've heard a lot about you."

Nico nodded, "Same, Cassie sings your praises."

Meg blushed, "Oh gods, those praises would be awkward." She said mostly to herself.

Nico found himself laughing.

She blushed more, then started fussing over Cassie, "You didn't rest like I told you to, did you? Is that why it smells like a bakery in here? Cassandra Pace, if having this baby doesn't kill you, I will."

Nico grinned as Cassie rolled her eyes.

"You're about as fearsome as kitten."

"This kitty has claws." Meg shot back, "And she's delivering your baby in a couple weeks. Imagine if I just didn't give you a full dose of pain medication."

Cassie shuddered, "You're a terrifying tiger."

"And don't you forget it."

Nico went and got cookies for all of them, making himself busy while they went over stuff that he didn't care to listen to. He had to figure out how to broach the topic of her being a surrogate for him and Will. He brought in the tray of cookies with the jug of milk and three glasses, finally thinking of an opening sentence to use when they finished with Cassie's check up.

"He's been kicking all morning. I had too much sugar."

"Cookie dough, again?"

"Yeah, craving passed after the third or fourth spoonful. Hey, Nico was wondering about you being a surrogate for him and his boyfriend." Cassie nabbed a cookie.

Nico stared at his friend, partially grateful, partially awestruck. Pregnancy made her really…straight to the point. There was no beating around the bush.

Meg nodded slightly at something on her clipboard, then looked at Nico, "What about it?"

Nico shifted nervously, "I…I…um…"

Meg gave him a soft smile, "My usual fee is groceries, plus half of the co-payment for the sonograms so that the parents can see the progress. You will be required to go through a learning program about babies, an inspection of your house to make sure you're ready for a baby, and I stay with the babies for at least two months after they are born."

Nico blinked, trying to process all of that. Groceries, fine. He doubted she ate that much, even when pregnant. Half the co-payment, so she had insurance, which meant the co-payment probably wouldn't be too steep. Not that they were hurting for money. Nico made good money with the artwork he did for Cassie's book series, and Will was a trauma surgeon. Learning program would be a given, he didn't know much about babies. He was pretty sure Will wouldn't mind her making sure their house was baby-proof. And two months…

"Um, let me run it by him?" He asked, a few other questions popping into his mind.

She nodded, "Of course, this isn't something that should be rushed into."

He nodded and went into the kitchen, dialing Will's cell.

"Nico? Everything okay?"

"Um, yeah, I'm just calling to tell you what I've found out so far and see what you think."

"Alright, shoot."

Nico told Will about the usual fees Meg charged and the other conditions.

"Sounds fine to me, I mean, the two months thing will be good so that we know what we're doing and someone can correct us if we're doing it wrong. You know that you're going to be spending the majority of time caring for it?"

"Yeah, I know. I work from home anyway." Nico said easily.

"Then if you're okay with it, then I am. Whatever you think is best, okay?"

Nico smiled, "That's a dangerous thing to say, sunshine."

"Love you, too. Talk to you later."

"Okay, bye." Nico hung up, and shoved his phone back into his pocket. Then he went back into the living room where the two women had graduated to talking about knitting baby blankets or something.

Meg was writing some things down on her notebook, but Cassie looked expectantly at Nico.

"We would like to hire you as our surrogate." Nico said to Meg.

She looked up and smiled, "Okay, we can have a formal meeting about it tonight, or some other time if that doesn't work."

Nico went over the schedule, "Tonight works."

"About five?"

He nodded, "Yeah, let me write down our address."

She nodded, "Alright." She made a note on her organizer, then turned her attention back to Cassie, "You need to continue resting. I mean serious resting. The only reason you should be getting up is to go to the bathroom, go to bed, briefly to get food, or to go to the couch. Am I perfectly clear?"

The worry and fear came back to Cassie's eyes, "Yes."

Meg nodded firmly, "If you can do that, everything should be fine. Okay?"

Cassie nodded again.

"Okay, I will check on your tomorrow, but if you need me before then, I'm a call away."

Cassie gave a small smile, "I know."

Meg smiled back, and packed up her bags, then she took the slip of paper from Nico with his address, "See you at five. Bye, Cassie."

"Bye, Meg. Thank you!"

Nico sat back down, his mind racing.

They were going to have kids.

He was going to be a dad.


	4. Meeting

Will had dinner ready when Nico finally got home. He had stayed with Cassie for as long as he could, worried about her. If a monster were to attack her, she would be a goner.

So Nico was pretty grateful that Will must have had a really good day to be cooking.

"Hey, thanks for cooking, sunshine."

Will turned and grinned at him, "Well, I figured Cassie would exhaust you." He was joking.

Nico smirked, "She sends her love and some cookies." He set the container of cookies on the counter. "She's going a bit stir crazy, which doesn't work well with her bed rest. I got her to focus on writing instead of baking, though, so that should help."

"It should," Will agreed, giving Nico a peck on the cheek. "And in the surrogate news?"

"We're meeting with her in about an hour and a half. So, I'm gonna go clean the place up. Call me when dinner's ready?" He was used to having an early dinner. Will generally went to work at some ungodly early hour in the morning, which meant all of his meals were earlier. Nico compensated by having a late breakfast/early lunch and then having a snack if he got hungry before dinner, and a snack later in the evening if he got hungry again. Dinner was a meal that was best when eaten together. Nico had learned that at Camp.

"Alright, I'm keeping it simple tonight."

"Spaghetti?"

"Minus the garlic bread since we have company coming."

"Works for me." Nico grabbed a real kiss, then started straightening up the living room. "Meg seems to know what she's doing. She wasn't at all what I expected her to look like, though."

"Oh?"

"She's short, like at least half a foot shorter than me. I thought she couldn't be more than seventeen."

"She is more than seventeen, right?"

"Yeah, she's my age. I asked Cassie."

"Alright, just double checking. Go on."

Nico folded their favorite throw blanket nicely and put it over the back of his chair, "She kind of looks like she would belong in your cabin."

"Ah, blonde hair, blue eyes?"

"Yeah, her hair is a paler blonde than yours, but still. She's seems sweet, and she's definitely dedicated." Nico arranged the throw pillows on their worn-looking couch. "I think the couch is dying."

"Yeah, don't let her sit on the far left side when she's here."

"What? Why?"

"I sat down, and it was like that part of the couch dropped out. We'll have to get a new one."

Nico grumbled. He liked this couch. He had good memories on this couch.

"Come on, Nico, we're going to have a kid in this house. We'll need some furniture that isn't already dying."

"Yeah, I know."

"Dinner's done."

Nico went in and set the table for them, then found himself smiling at the empty seat. Son? Or daughter? Would they have more than one?

"Ran into Percy on my way home." Will said, setting that last of the food on the table.

"Where?"

"The park. Their daughter is getting so big." Will gave Nico a grin.

Nico smiled, "She's gotta be close to three."

Will nodded, "She turns four in about three months."

"How's Percy?"

"He seemed really happy. He said that Annabeth had taken their son to work with her, so he was taking advantage of a daddy-daughter day. They visited Jason and Piper, and Frank and Hazel—" Nico made a mental note to call his sister "—said that they're doing good. Their kids are all healthy and such."

Nico realized that they really didn't have any friends left that weren't parents, or on the path of becoming parents. Cassie and Malcolm had been the last. Even Reyna and her husband had kids. No wonder Will had been thinking about his old dream of having kids.

"And Percy said to tell you Hi. I also agreed that we would go over for a dinner party tomorrow. All of the seven will be there, and Calypso, Reyna, and Eric."

"Sounds good, it's been a while since we've hung out with them." Nico smirked, "You didn't remember to make meatballs."

Will made a clucking sound, "Stink…"

"It's fine. Don't worry about it." Nico waved it off, "They aren't that good of meatballs anyway."

"Yeah, especially after Cassie sent over those homemade meatballs?"

"Dang, those were good." Nico shook his head. "Ever notice how much food she sends us?"

"She's one of those people that likes to feed people. Who are we to argue with our limited cooking skills?" Will chuckled.

Nico grinned, "Yeah, there should be a cooking class at camp. Nothing prepared us for this."

"You're still the better cook."

"It's called following a recipe and hoping the things I messed up won't ruin it." Nico glanced at the clock, "Shoot." He shoveled the rest of his food in.

Will glanced then did the same, then started clearing the table and such. "Go do a once over. Check the bathroom!"

Nico's eyes widened and he hurried to go clean the bathroom. He had forgotten about their toothpaste war last night, and told himself this morning that he would clean it when he got back from Cassie's. Now he hurried just to make the bathroom look decent. He only had fifteen minutes. Hopefully she wouldn't be early.

"She's here!" Will called.

Nico glanced around once more, then sprayed the air freshener and retreated to the living room.

Will was bouncing on his toes like he did in sword practice, obviously trying to keep calm.

Nico went towards the door, waiting for the doorbell to ring, waiting for a couple heartbeats, then opening the door, "Hey, Meg, come on in."

She smiled and did so, "Hello."

"I'm Will," Will introduced himself, offering his hand.

"Megara Payne. You have a very nice house." She said in an easy manner.

Will seemed to relax a little more, "Thank you."

She pulled a noodle off of his shirt, "Saving it for later?" She teased, tossing the noodle in the trash.

Will turned bright red, and mumbled something.

She gave him an easy smile, "Relax, I'm not going to judge you just because you had food on your shirt. It's more likely that I judge you based on your movie collection."

Nico smiled and took Will's hand, "It's a good thing the movies are put away, then." He gestured toward the seating, "Come on in and sit."

She nodded and followed them.

Will made sure she got his arm-chair, and took a seat on the couch.

Nico sat next to him, if for nothing else than to help calm Will's nerves. He knew that Meg was easy-going, and that Will was excited and maybe a little desperate for this to work.

She pulled out some papers from her bag, "To business?"

"Sure," Nico responded.

Will nodded quickly.

She handed them two documents, "The first is my usual agreement with the parents, like I told Nico earlier. The second is a brief explanation of how we'll go about it."

Will nodded, looking over them.

Nico read the second one, realizing that Meg adopted such an easy manner because it was an awkward topic. The more comfortable she was with it, the more comfortable the parents would be.

"This is a list of options for during the pregnancy. Things like, eating organic or home birth versus hospital. Everything is explained fairly well." She set that document on the coffee table, still going through her files for what she wanted.

Nico took it and glanced over it. Some of the things were kind of strange, but he figured they must be some sort of fad that's going on.

"On the back of that is things I will not do and reasons why." She added, then she found what she was looking for and leaned back in the seat with it, glancing it over.

Nico flipped to the back, and smiled, "You actually had to put that you won't switch to artificial sweeteners?"

She nodded, "People don't realize how awful they are for your body, and for the baby. I usually stick to pure cane sugar. It's a little more expensive, but so much better for you."

Will nodded, "Agreed. The body can process just about everything. Besides, I would not want to get between a pregnant woman and her chocolate craving."

Nico shuddered at the thought. He still remembered the time Eric, Reyna's husband, had gotten between her and the pickles when she was craving them. Eric wasn't even aware of his being in the way until Reyna turned into some sort of monster. It was terrifying.

Meg seemed to remember something, "Oh, I brought the parenting book that I require the parents to read." She pulled that out of her purse and set it on the table.

Nico nodded at it, suddenly realizing how excited he was getting.

Meanwhile, Will had calmed down and was carefully looking over everything, "So, how does this work on your end of things?" He finally asked, looking curious but also like he dreaded the answer.

She crinkled her nose slightly, "The gifts I got from my mother are…somewhat unique. I can…gosh, this sounds awkward, I can sort of mentally sort the traits so that they favor one of you." She made another face. "Or both. It's easier with one."

"Which begs the question…" Will let that thought trail off, looking uncomfortable as well.

Nico felt like he had missed something, "Begs the question…?"

She blushed a bit, "Which one of you will be…donating?"

Nico felt like he had face-planted in a frying pan, he let out a nervous cough, "Um, we hadn't…discussed…"

"We're still working that one out." Will summarized, "We're still not even sure what last name the baby would have."

"Oh gods, I forgot about last names." Nico ran a hand through his hair.

She giggled slightly, "Don't worry, it's not like we have to do it tonight. Tonight is the legal stuff. And then you'll have nine months to figure out the last name crisis."

Nico thought back to the thought he had had earlier, about the world needing more Wills. "If we ended up wanting another kid…"

Will looked at him, a little lost, but curious.

She followed his trail of thought, "Yeah, I'd be happy to help you then as well. And the other could donate."

Nico nodded, then looked at Will, "Then I think our first one should be from you." He blushed a bit, thinking about it.

Will's brow came together, "Are you sure? I mean, it's supposed to be our kid."

Nico smiled a bit, "Yeah, but if our first kid has me genes, we would never have another kid."

Will rolled his eyes, "Haha, you're hilarious."

"I'm serious, Will. I think it should be you." Nico took his boyfriend's hand, squeezing it.

They were both quiet for a moment, watching each other's faces for signs of what the other was really thinking. It was a habit they had formed, trying to prevent serious arguments, and trying to prevent themselves from hurting the other's feelings.

"If you're certain," Will said slowly.

Nico grinned, "I am. It was you who always dreamed of kids. It makes sense that our first be yours. I'll still love it, because I love you."

Will smiled and kissed him.

Nico looked at Meg after the kiss, "Sorry, we like to take on problems as they come up."

She shrugged, "Works for me. Here's the legal contract, it's basically saying my rights as the surrogate, your rights as the parents. We do need a witness to sign it, though."

"Abuse clause?" Nico had just barely caught the words, but he looked them over, understanding before she even explained.

"It's just stating that if I feel that after becoming pregnant that this would not be a good home, I have the right to keep the child from the parents for the child's own safety unless the parents can prove irrefutably that their home will not be abusive, and etc. There's also a clause about the parents changing their mind, they have to pay a fee of five thousand, and the custody of the baby falls to me again."

"What if they want you to abort it?" Nico asked, making a slight face.

She shook her head, "Never gonna happen. They pay the fine, I walk out of their lives. I make sure the baby has a good home, a good life."

"Ever had to do that?" Will asked, his arm around Nico's shoulders.

She shook her head again, "No. I just started doing this a couple years ago, though."

Someone rang the doorbell.

Will looked at Nico, and Nico looked back, both looking to see if the other was expecting someone.

Nico grabbed the knife from the end-table drawer while Will grabbed the sword from their display, just in case, and went to the door. He peeked out and set the knife on the entry table, "It's just Calypso." He opened the door.

"Hey, sorry to bother you, I was just baking and I needed a cup of sugar."

"Hey, Calypso, no problem. Come on in." Nico back up so she could enter.

"Hey, Calypso." Will gave her a half hug. "I'll get the sugar for you."

"How's Leo doing with the kid?" Nico asked, smirking.

Calypso laughed softly, "He's already taught Gareth Morse code, and Gar can't even say his own name correctly."

Nico grinned, "He's an adorable kid, though." He liked living down the street from Leo and Calypso. They had cookouts with awesome food, and Nico never had to worry about the car not starting.

"Who's this?" Calypso asked, holding out her hand to Meg.

Meg shook it, "Megara. You're Leo's wife, Calypso."

Calypso nodded, "You went to camp?"

Meg made a face, "More or less. Usually less."

"Meg's going to be a surrogate mom for us." Will explained, handing her a container of sugar.

Calypso's face lit up, "That's wonderful!"

"Hey, would you mind being a witness for the contract?" Nico asked, glancing at Meg to make sure she thought that was okay.

Calypso grinned, "Of course!"

They went back to the contract, all of them signing it. Then Calypso hugged them, agreed not to tell Leo since it was their news and they would tell everyone at the dinner party tomorrow, and left.

Will grinned at their copy of the contract, "So, when do we do the other part? And is it a once and done thing, or…?"

Meg thought about it for a moment, "This week or next would be best, and yeah. It's a once and done thing for me."

"Could we take care of it tonight?" Nico asked, hesitantly.

Meg shrugged, "If that's what you want to do, sure."

Will looked to Nico for approval, then nodded himself, "Alright, then."


	5. Dinner Party

Will was bubbling over with excitement. He had had the day off and spent the day talking about how they were going to be parents, wondering if was a going to be a girl or a boy, reading the parenting book they had left them, and just generally bouncing around like a little kid.

Nico had watched with a grin. Yeah, he was excited. How could he not be when the person he loved most was so excited?

He just hoped Will could keep his excitement contained so they could tell their friends all at once.

The food at the party was great, and Nico was excited to see their friends, and their friends kids. He was especially excited that Hazel and Frank had made the journey, and to see little Sammy.

Eric and Reyna had also brought Eric's little sister, Eva, who had volunteered to watch the kids while they all had a nice evening. She reassured everyone that should handle it in her calm way and ushered the little toddlers toward Percy and Annabeth's daughter's room. Most of the babies were sleeping in their son's room.

Which meant a night somewhat free of kids for all of them, and they were definitely enjoying it.

"Oh man," Piper finally exclaimed after they had finished eating, "That was the first meal I've had in two years that's been uninterrupted."

Jason was nodding, "Tali is…"

"Clingy."

"Just have a second kid, that worked for us." Percy joked. "Melina is obsessed with her little brother."

"And the beach." Annabeth said it like it was a reproach.

Percy grinned at her, "I'd say I was sorry, but she tried to build a replica of our house out of sand."

Annabeth smiled.

Hazel giggled, "I'm just glad Sammy hasn't changed into any animals."

Frank's eyes were wide, and he nodded solemnly.

Leo laughed, "I taught Gareth Morse code, and he catches on fire when he has a temper tantrum!"

Calypso shook her head.

Nico chuckled, "That's a new one."

Leo's laughter turned a little nervous, "Yeah, I'm not sure what we're going to do with him until he's older."

Eric and Reyna clinked their glasses together, with a cheer for normal children.

Will laughed, and shared a secret glance with Nico.

Nico nodded, "Well, we're going to be getting our own kid."

Reyna grinned, "How?"

"Cassie's midwife also acts as a surrogate and we hired her." Will put his arm around Nico.

"Megara?" Annabeth asked.

Nico nodded, "Yeah."

Annabeth grinned, "She was my midwife. She's awesome."

Percy nodded emphatically, "Yeah, she really is. Miracle worker."

Nico knew that Annabeth's second pregnancy had been a troubled one after the car accident she had been in. They were afraid that they would lose their baby. Every day had been a struggle. He hadn't been able to be around Annabeth, with death hanging that closely he didn't want to worry her more, especially since she needed to be relaxing. So he and Will had gone on a trip, which was probably why he hadn't met Meg sooner.

"Who did you hear about her from?" Piper asked Annabeth.

Annabeth shrugged a bit, "I didn't, Connor just showed up with her and told us that her mother was the goddess of childbirth and midwifery and that she could help us. And she did."

"You guys are gonna be dads!" Jason grinned, "Oh man!"

Nico grinned again, "I know, you should have seen Will all day. He's been this ball of excitement bouncing around the house."

Will grinned, "I am excited."

Nico just laughed a bit.

They all went on a tangent of congratulations and tips for preparing and the girls told them that there would definitely have to be a baby shower once they knew the gender.

Nico just basked in the happiness of all of his friends, his family, in his own happiness.

Melina was the first to interrupt them, running in, "Daddy!"

The whole group just started chuckling quietly as this little, female version of Percy, ran into the room on those chubby toddler legs, and climbed up onto his lap before he could even move and threw her arms around his neck.

She was rambling some toddler story, half of which was incoherent as real words, but she was obviously upset over it.

"The fish? Oh no!" Percy said, hugging her tightly, his face showing relief when his response was correct.

Annabeth was grinning, holding back laughter.

Will kissed Nico's cheek, then whispered, "Someday, that's going to happen to us."

Nico grinned and leaned against the love of his life.

 _ **Shorter part because the last part was so stinking long.**_


	6. First Look

_**First off, yes, I have posted six parts today, and this is my third time updating, but for the record, the first two were posted at like, Midnight. Second, this story has become a distraction; like, I have serious homework to do, but I want to write this instead.**_

 _ **Third, To Cassy daughter of the moon: More like IUI, because it's her egg that they're using. Plus some godly magical stuff. ;) Also, as far as covering all nine months...I can't answer that because it would give away part of the story.**_

 _ **That's it! Enjoy!**_

Nico hadn't realized how hard it was waiting for nine months. He didn't realize how hard it was waiting a week for Meg to confirm that she was indeed pregnant. He didn't realize that he would want to know so badly if it was a boy or a girl, or that he would look at the room that would be the nursery and start planning a mural, one for if it was a boy, another for if it was a girl, and a neutral third option that he thought of about eight weeks into Meg's pregnancy.

His patience lasted eight weeks. He now realized why everyone measured in weeks instead of months.

Thankfully, they got to go to their first ultrasound at about thirteen weeks. She had explained that she would have one to confirm, but that there wouldn't be much to see. So, if they waited until thirteen weeks, they would get much clearer picture of their baby.

Still, Nico felt weird, meeting her at the medical facility with Will in tow.

She looked the same as she had when he saw her about four weeks ago, when Cassie had finally given birth and Nico went to see her, but less tired.

Strike that, she looked more tired. It was just well concealed with makeup.

Will hugged her and Nico did too, albeit more awkwardly.

She didn't seem to notice, though, and led the way into the office.

They didn't have to wait long, though the two men did wait outside while they were setting up.

Then they were allowed to go in and stand beside her head and talk with her while the technician went to do something.

"You excited?" Meg asked, looking at them both. She looked pretty comfortable, which Nico was grateful for.

Will was nodding emphatically, "Yeah. It's been hard waiting this long."

"Yeah, I thought I would be able to be more patient but I haven't been." Nico agreed. "I'm not sure how I'll be able to last another…seven months?"

"About six months, next week I'm in the second trimester." She corrected, "Don't worry, time will fly. At least until the last two months, then it will drag. We won't be able to tell if it's a boy or girl yet, but still there's a lot we will be able to see."

"Do you always do your first sonogram alone?" Will asked, casually tucking some of her hair behind her ear.

She shrugged, "No. It's more of a formality for me. The first time I was a surrogate was for my best friend. She couldn't carry, so I did for her. She was heavily invested and it was my first time pregnant so we went through the whole process together. Second time was with a different friend and I couldn't stand his wife, so I told her that she would be bored at the first ultrasound because there was nothing that really happened. I offered for you guys to be there." She said, partially defensively.

"No, you were right about us waiting until now. If I had been there I would have been even more impatient." Nico said, shaking his head.

Will grinned.

The technician came back in and then started the ultrasound.

"And there's your baby." The technician said.

Nico's heart just about exploded. He could hear both of their heartbeats. He could see the shape of the baby's head, and legs. He was squeezing the life out of Will's hand.

"Have you been feeling any movements?" The technician asked Meg.

"Not yet, but the fluttering movements always come at about eighteen weeks for me."

The technician chuckled, "Well, you're barely showing any stomach yet. I looked five months pregnant by this time. And you're a small girl."

"Yeah, I expect to start showing within a couple days." Meg said rationally, smiling softly at the screen.

Will was grinning, and bouncing on his toes, "How are calm?!"

She laughed softly, "Happiness is peace, to me."

Nico forced himself to release Will's hand, "When will we know if it's a girl or boy?"

"Around seventeen weeks. So, at the next ultrasound."

"Isn't the next ultrasound you scheduled at nineteen weeks?" Will froze.

"Yes, you can wait that long."

Nico wasn't sure he could.


	7. Fire

Nico and Will had dinner with Meg once every other week, but sometimes saw her between then. Nico was surprised at how suddenly she her belly seemed to grow.

She would tell them how the pregnancy was going, and at their last dinner had said that the cravings had started. And something about sour gummy worms and scrambled eggs.

Nico was just trying to get by until the next ultrasound in four days. And he was getting groceries since the cupboards were pretty much bear. He was surprised when he rounded a corner and saw her leaning against a cart, rubbing her forehead and looking back and forth between two different boxes in front of her.

"Hey, Meg." He said softly, not wanting to startle her.

She looked up and gave him a tired smile, "Hey, just trying to convince myself that brownies are the answer to my craving for peanut butter and mayo sandwiches."

He made a face, "What?"

"I know. Sad thing, I actually tried it. Wasn't what I was craving." She shook her head and put the brownies mixes back. "Maybe grapes."

Nico followed her, "You look exhausted."

"I walked here." She shrugged, "I'm fine."

Nico remembered where she lived, and where her office was, and walking here was no small thing. "Why?"

"My car died. Bit the dust. So, I walked. It's not like there's any harm in walking." She looked at the grapes and made a face, "Not happening."

Nico shook his head, "You're going to have trouble getting home. Some sort of fire over by where you live."

She made a frustrated face for a moment, "Oh well. It's going to take me forever just to figure out what the heck my craving actually is."

Nico chuckled lightly, "You're crazy. Wasn't it sour gummy worms and eggs last week?" He grabbed a loaf of bread from the display at the end of the isle they were by. He was worried about her. After all, she was carrying his and Will's baby. The least he could do was try and take care of her. Especially with her best friend having moved to Vermont just a couple weeks ago. Who was taking care of her? Making sure she was okay? That she had everything she needed? Gave her hugs besides him and Will?

"Yeah, that passed quickly. Normally I have pretty uniform cravings. This time, I'm all over the board. And my cravings are stronger this trimester than in my first which is unusual." She shrugged, "But considering that I'm pretty sure this one is a girl and the first two I had were boys, that could be the difference. Hang on, that's not right. Gender doesn't make a difference."

Nico grinned, "You think it's a girl?"

"Think, as in, nothing is certain." She cautioned, "But yeah, I think it's a girl."

Nico hugged her, too excited to do anything else.

She laughed softly, and just rested her head on his shoulder for a moment.

But he could tell she was exhausted. Desperate for contact.

She gasped, "Marshmallow and strawberries!" She waddled her way over to the strawberries.

Nico shook his head, deciding to suggest to Will that they spend more time with her. Make sure she was doing well. She was the most important piece in the puzzle. "You sure?"

"No, but at least it doesn't sound repulsive." She grinned back at him.

He smiled, "I'll drive you home." He pushed his own cart toward the checkout.

"You don't have to, it's fine."

"I'll drive you home." He said, more firmly. "You're exhausted. I'm going to take care of you, because I have a feeling no one else is."

She opened her mouth to deny it, but Nico could tell that he was right by the glint of sadness that he briefly saw.

"No arguments," He finalized his statement.

Her mouth shut and she nodded.

"Now, put your stuff on the counter. We're paying for your groceries anyways, right?" Nico prompted, pushing his cart down to the bag-boy.

She nodded again, smiling softly.

Nico honestly wouldn't be surprised if she fell asleep in the car, even though the ride was about fifteen minutes. He pushed the cart with all the groceries out to the car and started putting them into the trunk after handing her the jar of marshmallow and the strawberries and ordering her to go sit. He could didn't hear the sirens anymore, so he figured the fire must have been put out and they were probably just cleaning up the mess now. He put the cart in the corral, then got into the car and started it up, "Get the right stuff?"

She grinned and nodded.

"So, you walked to the store?"

"Well, I took an hour break at the pizza place, but yeah, I walked."

"Mmm, pizza." Nico realized it had been at least three weeks since he'd had pizza. That would have to be rectified soon.

"Yeah, that's one of my more consistent cravings. I think it's the pepperoni. But then again, when I eat pepperoni separately, I'm not a fan."

"We have got to stop talking about food."

"Sorry, what would you rather talk about?"

Nico went the other route to get to her place, figuring he could get through. "Um, I don't know. Where are you from?"

"Ancestrally, or personally?"

Nico shrugged, "Both, I guess. I can't figure out what you are."

"Well, my grandfather's side is French-Irish. Like, most of my family is still living in France and Ireland. Strange mix, but it works. My grandmother's side is Italian-Dutch. My great-grandmother was as Italian as Italy gets. I'm from Michigan City, Indiana. Until I was thirteen, anyway. Then I was placed in a kind of foster care situation. That's complicated and messy and I still don't know how to explain it. Anyway, I did the rest of my growing up around mid-Michigan. No specific city."

"And your dad?"

She shrugged, "Isn't allowed within five-hundred feet of me."

Nico glanced over at her, not wanting to pry.

"He um, didn't know how to be a Dad. He didn't mean to be a bad one, he just…never understood. My kind of foster mom would spend months helping me build up my confidence, then within ten minutes he could undo everything." She shrugged, "So she took me away from him."

"So, what made you move here?"

"My best friend, Emily. She was like a sister to me. I came here to be a surrogate for her. Then I just, never left." She shrugged.

"How did you manage the monster attacks?"

She laughed, "They were afraid of me. I couldn't control my abilities and I made some of them pregnant, once with kitten and another time with puppies. Word spread, monsters stayed away. Plus being a daughter of such a minor goddess means I'm not as…potent."

He nodded, then frowned. The area was cordoned off.

She frowned as well, then gasped, "That's my apartment building!"

He parked and they got out, going over to the officer.

"Excuse me, I live there. What happened? Was anyone hurt?" She asked, looking worried.

The officer looked pretty young, and took one look at her and realized he had better be careful. "Nobody was hurt. A fire started on the sixth floor, damaged the fifth floor up to the eighth floor." Nico thought his slight southern accent was cute. The officer was decent looking too.

"Third floor is fine?"

"More or less. Residents on the lower floors will be allowed to retrieve their belongings, but it wouldn't be safe for them to stay there."

"When will we be allowed to retrieve our belongings?" She worried her hands, gazing past him to the building.

"Tomorrow morning, but ma'am, you might want to consider letting your husband get all of your belongings."

"He's not my husband, I'm not married." She said in an even tone.

"Then your friend. Even by morning it wouldn't be a good idea for you to be in there, seeing as you're in a family way."

She tensed, "You said in the morning?"

"Yes ma'am. We're telling people eight on the dot."

She nodded sharply, "Okay." Then she pivoted and started walking away.

Nico jogged to catch up, "Where to?"

"I need to get my overnight bag from my office, then to a motel, I guess."

"No way. You're staying with us." Nico said, hoping Will would be okay with him saying this.

"I couldn't possibly." She shook her head.

"Why? You're carrying our child, you won't be able to stay in your apartment, and you're going to be living with us for two months after the baby is born anyway. Will won't mind, and we're not that far from your office. And we can make sure you take care of yourself."

"Which is a sneaky way of saying that you can take care of me."

He shrugged, "We're invested in your health and well-being. Meg, you're tired. Pregnancy is hard. I read that book. So you'll stay with us. And tomorrow, you can totally flirt with that officer."

"Right, because every guy finds a girl who's pregnant with another man's baby attractive." She made a face and put her hand on her stomach, "That's my lung, sweetie, stop it."

Nico smiled, and drove her to her office.

She shared a small office in a facility that taught midwifery skills (Nico never asked for details, he just left it to the professionals), where she also taught. She was well-respected, even amongst the older women, and they often deferred to her.

Even as they walked through, some of the women came up to ask her about recent scientific studies.

Most she shrugged off, simply saying that she'd have to read the article. Others she scoffed, and rattled off five or six reasons why it was wrong. The only one she found interesting was one that said that midwives that make house calls like she did were more likely to be trusted, and provided an ease of mind to both parents that allowed the birth to go more smoothly.

That one she paused upon, "I'd like to see the science behind that one. I have to agree. Half the couples that I work with at the hospital don't trust me nearly as much as the couples that I go to. And even if the birthing time is longer, the ones I visited always seemed to be more comfortable with what was going on and trust me that I'm doing what's best for them and their baby." She unlocked her office and went in, grabbing her duffel.

Nico took it from her.

"Is this your boyfriend?"

"No, I don't have a boyfriend. This is Nico, I'm his and his boyfriend's surrogate." She closed the door and locked it again.

"Honey, you forgot your work phone hear and some poor lady called three times trying to find out if she should worry about the baby kicking. I did my best to calm her, but she was not having that." One of the older woman shook her head.

Meg crinkled her nose like she smelled something bad, "I know who you're talking about. I'll call her and try to talk to her again. Rhonda, can you ask Teresa if she can take on one of my clients. She's due about the same time that I'm going on leave."

"Sure thing, honey."

"Thanks," She walked toward the door.

Nico followed like a shadow, then went ahead of her to put her bag in the back seat.

She got into the car and leaned her head back, "Fine, I'll stay with you tonight. But no longer."

Nico rolled his eyes, "You'll stay a lot longer than that."

She sighed.

Nico drove them home, trying to figure out how to tell Will what he had just done.


	8. Kicks

Will was actually more than okay with it. He had been worried about her since their dinner the previous week, but once Nico called and told him that he had told Meg that she would be staying with them, he sounded relieved.

She had fallen asleep on the car ride home, woken up come inside, talked with him for maybe fifteen minutes before falling asleep again mid-sentence on the couch.

Now, he carefully picked her up and carried her to the guest bedroom, laying her on the bed and covering her up.

She didn't even partially wake up.

Nico put a hand on her stomach, imagining the little baby that was in there, then he realized how freaked out she would probably get if she were to wake up, and went into the kitchen to finish putting away groceries and start dinner. He made stew. Sure, it was a little simple, but it was one of his best-made meals and there were always leftovers that Will could take for lunch. Nico liked that he could take care of his boyfriend simply by making sure there was something Will could take for lunch.

He opened the sliding door and closed the screen door, letting the fresh air in to clean out the onion smell. He liked the smell, but it always made him hungry, and he had a couple hours to get through before Will would be home and they could eat. He chopped the carrots, and found himself imagining his and Will's life with a little girl. All sunshine like Will, and perhaps sweet like Meg. If it was a girl, he decided, then they would use Solace. The Di Angelo women seemed to die young. He had looked up his family tree and found that none of the women with the last name Di Angelo had lived past forty-two for the last eight generations.

Solace was a much safer option.

But he also couldn't help but hum a little as he cooked. Will reading the girl bedtime stories. Nico scaring away the monsters in her closet and under her bed. Will teaching her how to play the piano they had in their living room. Nico finger-painting with her. Holding her close when she was upset.

He wanted a little girl. He hadn't realized how much he had wanted a little girl, but he did.

That wasn't to say that he wouldn't be happy if he got a boy. He could see a mini Will, learning archery and swords, playing with toy dinosaurs, running around outside and jumping in puddles. Asking Nico and Will to tell him about the heroes again and again. Pretending he was a super hero, getting scraped up when he crashed his bike and crying while Will carefully patched him up.

He had ideas of what both would be like, but he liked the idea of the girl more. Not that he would ever admit it to Will.

"Did I fall asleep while talking with you?"

Nico jumped, almost cutting himself, "Uh, yeah, don't worry about it though. I knew your were tired." He turned to glance at her.

Her hair was a bit messy, but she looked better rested. "Smells good. Whatcha cooking?"

"Beef stew."

"Yummy," She sat at the dining room table and smiled at the picture of nurseries that the Nico and Will had been collecting. "Getting ideas, are we?"

Nico nodded, "Yeah, and making a list for the baby shower that our friends are throwing for us about five days after the appointment. Thankfully most of them have kids so they know what we need and Calypso is keeping track of who got what since we aren't officially registered anywhere."

She grinned, "Well, at least you'll know for certain what it will be by then."

Nico nodded, "Yeah, and then I can decide on the mural and start working on it."

"Mural?"

"Um, yeah. I'm an artist, and I really want to do a special mural for one of the nursery walls. Obviously something that will be fine when they get older, but…you know. Something special. From me." He finished cutting the potatoes and put them in the pot. Then went over to the table and sat with her while the stew…stewed. "I've had some good practice, lately. I've been working on illustrations for the children's book that Cassie wrote while she was pregnant. I like it. They're light and kind of dreamlike. Anything could be hiding in the blurry areas. It's…hopeful."

"Expecting a baby can do that."

Nico grinned, "So, how accurate are your guesses?"

She shook her head, smiling and laughing, "Everything should be taken with a grain of salt, especially when it comes to the gender of the baby."

He was about to reply when she suddenly grabbed his hand and placed it on a certain spot on her stomach.

He could feel it kick.

He grinned, and wasn't sure if he was laughing or about to cry out of excitement. Sure, he had heard the heartbeat and Meg had said that the baby was moving and such. But feeling it? It was the most amazing feeling in the world.

"Hey, I got off early. It's smells so good!"

"Will! Get in here!" Nico called, excited that he could still feel it.

Will hurried, coming in and looking panicked, then excited before they could even explain.

But before he could drop his stuff and get over there the baby stopped.

Nico's excitement turned to momentary panic, "No, keep kicking."

Meg winced, "She went back to kicking my lung."

Will's face fell, disappointment clearly written in his slumped shoulders, but he seemed to try and put on more excitement, "Still, that's exciting. You felt her kick." He rubbed Nico's shoulder.

Nico got up and kissed Will, "I'm sorry you didn't get to feel it."

Will managed a smile, "You can't even stop smiling, you're so excited."

Nico buried his face in Will's shoulder, "Sorry."

Will laughed, "Don't be. I'm glad you're excited. I'll feel it kicking eventually." He gently ruffled Nico's hair, then went over and kissed Meg's cheek, "And I'm glad you're going to be staying with us."

She looked surprised at the kiss, but gave him a smile, "Thank you for letting me."

Will smoothed her hair, a brotherly gesture Nico had seen him use with Kayla and some of their close friends, "You're a little low in calcium."

She blinked then nodded, "I'll take a vitamin tonight."

He nodded then grabbed his briefcase again, "I'm gonna go get comfortable."

"Just don't forget pants." Nico mumbled the warning as Will passed.

"Don't be dork." Will teased, then disappeared down the hall to their bedroom.

"Does he have a habit of forgetting his pants?" She asked, smiling.

Nico looked at her, startled, "You heard that?"

She tapped her ears, "I have good ears."

He couldn't argue with that, "Um, he doesn't normally forget. He just foregos, which fine and all when it's just us…"

She laughed softly, then looked over their list. "Did you guys decide whether or not you want the baby breastfed the first couple months while I'm here?"

"We haven't talked that far yet." Nico shrugged a bit.

She nodded.

Nico still felt bad that Will hadn't felt the baby kick. Especially when the baby didn't kick the rest of the night.

As they got into bed, Nico cuddled close to Will. "She was so exhausted when I saw her at the store."

Will nodded, "And lonely?"

Nico shrugged, "That one wasn't as obvious until I realized that no one was taking care of her. Her Dad isn't even allowed within five hundred feet of her. Her best friend moved a couple weeks ago. Sure, she has her coworkers and the midwife that she goes to, but…I don't think they realize how sad or tired she's been."

Will kissed Nico, arms wrapping around his waist. "We'll take care of her. The baby is half her, anyway."

Nico snuggled closer, "We're lucky she was in our friends' lives."

"Very." Will ran his fingers through Nico's hair, "You're awfully cuddly."

"I'm practicing." Nico joked.

"Ah, I see. It isn't because it's been weeks."

Nico groaned, "Shut up, I'm too tired for this and you have an early morning. Again."

"Early to arrive, early to leave." Will reasoned, "You could always get up with me."

Nico shuddered, "Four in the morning? No thank you."

"More like three forty-five, but close enough."

Nico made a disgusted sound. "Seriously? Why?"

"So I would have more of my day to spend with you." Will said easily, smiling.

Nico felt himself blush slightly, "Good answer." He mumbled, then buried his face in Will's shirt and waited for the taller man to relax and start to drift off.

Will didn't seem quite ready to do that, "You said something about her apartment being on fire?"

"The building. Her apartment was fine, but the floors above are unstable. I'm going to get her stuff tomorrow. I have to try and talk her out of actually lifting things. I'll see if Leo can slip away from the shop to help." Nico explained, tracing an old stain that must not have washed out of the T-shirt. "Then I'm gonna try and hit some laundry since we haven't done it in a while."

Will grinned, "What was it like?"

"What? The building?"

"No," Will bopped Nico's nose, "Feeling the baby kick?"

Nico immediately grinned, hiding his face in Will's shirt, "We're going to be parents."

"That's not an answer." Will chuckled, then he laughed, "Oh gods, what will they call us? We can't both be Daddy."

Nico shook his head, "I have no clue. Papa and Daddy? Father and Dad? Dad and Daddy? Will and Nico?"

Will made a disapproving noise at the last one, "How would we even designate which was which?"

"I'd be Papa, since it's the Italian equivalent of Daddy and why not? And you'd be Daddy. Or I'd be father and you'd be dad. Or I'd be Dad and you'd be Daddy."

Will looked a little confused, and concerned, "Why—"

"Because I'm the more serious one and you're the "let me squeeze the sunshine into you" one." Nico shrugged, smiling, "I imagine our kids will be much more attached to you in a Daddy way."

Will rolled his eyes, "You're so weird."

"Love you too. Now sleep, sunshine. Tomorrow's coming quickly." Nico shushed his boyfriend.

Will nodded, "Love you, Nico. Sweet dreams."

"Sweet dreams, Will."


	9. Apartment

Will had gotten a call at two in the morning, asked to come in because they were going to be having a lot of injured people come in from a crash and they were understaffed. And of course, because it's Will and he's all noble like that, he went in.

Nico had grumbled that they asked too much of Will and then fallen back to sleep after Will had left the house, but he had been awake long enough to know that Meg hadn't been able to sleep before then. She would be exhausted.

So, when his alarm went off and he got ready to go get her stuff, he was reluctant to wake her. He peeked in on her, but couldn't bring himself to wake her. Not yet. He'd work up the nerve. He'd call and ask for Leo to help him clean out her stuff from her apartment, then wake her.

Leo answered after the third ring, "Hola, Leo and Calypso's auto shop and restaurant."

"Dude, this is your home phone."

"Exactly, sup Nico?"

"Need your help getting stuff out of a friends apartment."

"Which friend?"

"Meg, our surrogate."

"Ah, okay. Why are we getting stuff out of her apartment?"

"Because the apartments above burned and she can't move back in, so she's going to stay with us but she kind of wants to get her stuff out before the building collapses." Nico forced his shoe on, "Can you help?"

"Sure, I'll even get the van. And Jason and Pipes are here, so I can ask them if they'll help."

"That'd be awesome."

"Many hands, right? See you in ten."

"Thanks." Nico hung up and then steeled himself. He was Nico Di Angelo, son of Hades, Prince of Ghosts. He was not scared of waking a small pregnant woman.

He was terrified.

He went into the bedroom and gently shook her shoulder, "Meg?" He whispered, not sure he was waking her right. He usually shoved Will off the bed when he wanted Will to wake up.

Thankfully, she stirred, eyes fluttering open slightly, then she started to prop herself up on her elbow, to look at the clock. She let out a soft sigh, "Why didn't you wake me sooner? It takes me a while to get ready."

"It's okay, he said they were going to start letting people in at eight, that could mean we might have to wait a bit. They won't hold it against us if we're a couple minutes later than everyone. Besides, I got us some help and a van."

She managed to sit on the edge of the bed, then held out her hand, "Help."

He helped her to her feet, "I figured we could stop and get breakfast on our way."

She nodded, and then waved him toward the door, "I'll be out as soon as I can."

He nodded and exited so she could get ready, going and grabbed the suitcases, just in case they needed more containers to put things in. He put them in his car, waving as Leo pulled into the driveway. He waited and gave Piper and Jason hugs. "Thanks for helping guys."

"No problem, any friend of yours is a friend of ours. Especially when that friend is having your kid." Jason grinned, "Besides, we wanted to meet her."

Nico rolled his eyes, "You're such a dork. How's Tali?"

"Started having night terrors." Jason said, gaze growing serious.

Piper shook her head, "Charmspeak means nothing to night terrors."

Nico shuddered, "I'll keep that in mind. How's Gar?"

"He hasn't burst into flames in a whole month." Leo grinned, following Nico in.

They waited in the living room, talking a bit while they waited when Nico told them that he had hesitated when waking her.

Piper had laughed.

Leo and Jason seemed to understand completely.

"Pregnant women are scary, man. Especially if you wake them up wrong." Leo gave a little shudder.

Then they had moved on to a more pleasant topic as Nico told Piper his ideas for the nursery mural.

Meg came out, "Sorry, my left shoe was under the bed."

"You got it?" Nico said, disbelieving.

She rolled her eyes, "I'm pregnant, not incapable."

Leo looked at her, "I have met you."

She looked at him and smiled faintly, but Nico could see the deep bags under eyes that she had tried to hide. "Yes, yes you did. I almost decapitated you with my Chakram."

Leo grinned, "That was awesome. I take it you don't throw much anymore?"

"Why wouldn't I? It's my means of self defense against monsters."

"That or impregnating them with puppies and kittens?" Nico teased.

She grinned, "There is that. However, if I were to do that while I was like this, there is no telling what could happen with this." She pointed at her belly.

"Best not to do that, then. I'm Piper, by the way, and my husband, Jason."

"Nice to meet you."

Jason shook her hand grinning, "We're so excited for these guys to become parents!"

She laughed softly, "I think they're pretty excited about it too."

Nico nodded, his own grin appearing, "I got to feel it kick yesterday."

"Oh man, I remember that feeling. It's amazing."

"And absolutely terrifying." Leo shook his head, eyes wide as he remember, "I'm going to be responsible for another human being."

"You are responsible for another human being. Calypso had the baby, it's boy, he catches on fire?" Piper jogged Leo's memory as she shoved him toward the door. "Come on, we should get started. We were going to stop somewhere to get breakfast."

"So were we." Nico said, "I'm going to drive separate, so that if Meg gets tired I can take her home."

Meg almost protested, but then stopped herself with the slight shake of her head, "I'd argue, but only got four hours of sleep."

Piper gave her a sympathetic look, "Back pain?"

"Legs mostly, and this little one kept kicking my lung just as I was drifting off."

"Meet at the Cafe on tenth?" Nico asked Leo.

Leo nodded, "Sounds good."

They got into their respective vehicles, went and got breakfast and coffee (for most of them, Meg got hot-chocolate, something about caffeine giving her headaches and making the baby more active), and then Nico led the way to the apartment buildings and parked where the officer directed them after he told them which apartment they were coming to clean out.

It looked bad.

Nico didn't want her going in, but it was her apartment and her stuff and she had the keys.

She led the way up to the officers, telling them her name and which apartment she lived in.

The cutie pie officer from the previous day tipped his hat to her, "You're sure you want to go in there? We lost the fourth floor ceiling last night."

She nodded, "I have some legal documents that I need to get. They're already making sure I don't lift anything, and if it gets too dangerous they'll kick me out. Especially this one."

"Sorry if I think you should be taken care of, so that the child you're having for me and my boyfriend is healthy. I just think the two things are directly related for some strange reason." Nico rolled his eyes, making sure he got the fact that she was a surrogate out there for her sake. She could do worse than the police officer.

He smiled, "Alright, just be careful, and you may want one of these masks."

She took it without complaint, and headed in confidently after thanking him.

Leo was chuckling, "And I thought our girls were headstrong."

Piper just grinned, "Oh, she's going to fit in just fine."

Nico stole another glance at the officer, who was now getting teased by the others present about Meg. Perfect. Now he just had to—

Hang on…when did he start playing matchmaker?

They went up the stairs, pausing around the second floor to get out of the way as a group came through with a chair, and to let Meg rest.

Nico really felt like he should have let her sleep for another four hours, and just brought his friends to take care of everything. But it was too late now, and she was right, she knew what she needed and wanted from her apartment.

He had never been inside, he and Will had just dropped her off at her building once or twice. He was kind of surprised with how…small and plain it was. Crappy.

The kitchen looked like she spent a good amount of her time and effort in it. It was decorated and everything, but the stovetop oven looked like it was from the eighties and the fridge was making a clicking sound. But the living room had a couch, with a small TV and an old DVD and VHS player. No artwork, nothing special. A tray table acted as an end table. Her bedroom had what looked like a full bed, but he was pretty sure it was just an unusual twin bed. There was a desk, and a closet, and a dresser, and she had pinned some photos to her wall. But otherwise it was just another blank room with crappy lighting and cheap looking furniture. The only good looking piece was her desk, which looked like an antique of some sort.

He was kind of afraid to see the bathroom.

"Yeah, so, this is it. Um…" She looked around, trying to decide where to start, "I have some boxes in the coat closet we can use for the kitchen. I'm going to get my papers and stuff."

"I'll start on packing your clothes?" Piper offered.

Meg nodded, "I have suitcases in my bedroom closet."

Nico glanced around, "I'll start putting everything on the counter. Why don't you and Leo carry the couch out?"

Leo was looking at the couch, "Fine, just nobody ever sit on it again. The frame is shot."

Nico glanced at Meg.

She shrugged, "I got it five years ago for twenty bucks, put it in the dumpster or leave it for all I care. I'd rather we got my desk out. It was a gift and I do care about it." She went to clean it out and off.

Jason had pulled out the boxes, so he and Nico started filling them with her kitchen equipment. Nico figured she must cook a lot, and make her own noodles.

Leo was checking out the fridge, "What are they going to do with the appliances from the building?"

"They go back to the owner, so I have no clue."

Leo nodded, even though she couldn't see him. Nico could see the gears in Leo's head turning.

They spent a good two hours packing up her kitchen, her clothes, her desk, her DVD/VHS player, and her movies, plus the groceries she had, her toiletries, and her bedding.

They left pretty much all of the other furniture, including the mattress that Piper and Nico couldn't believe she had been sleeping on.

She had just shrugged, saying it had only recently begun bothering her.

Nico had noticed how immaculately clean the place was, and organized. How the most attention was at her desk and in the kitchen. How she didn't have any photos of just a guy. Always groups of people. Usually the same group. He also noticed that most of her really personal stuff was in the boxes under the bed—which contained tons of photos, knick-knacks, one had her jewelry box, another looked like it was for crafts, and still another seemed to just be papers and such all sorted into folders.

As he was looking through the place with her once more to make sure that they hadn't missed anything of value, he found an older photo of what had to be her as a little girl with a man. It must have been her father. It only made sense. Nico thought that the man looked a little disturbing, his serious expression and the almost wide eyes with a forced smile. Nico could imagine the man in the photo doing what she said he had.

But her appearance was something he noticed more. She was wearing a dress in the photo, which had been taken at some birthday party or other from the looks of it, and her hair was in a ponytail. But she was beaten up, bruised. Had stitches on her forehead, and bandages on her arms. And one of the bruises in the photo was defined enough that he could see it was in the shape of a hand.

"I was attacked." She said beside him, "That a couple days after they arrested the guy, at Emily's eighth birthday party."

"So you were seven?" Nico knew she was about a year younger than her friend, Emily.

"Almost. I barely remember it."

"Why keep this photo?"

She bit her lip, "Because that was back when he would come home, and stay for longer than a day. Back when he wasn't that bad of a father."

"And yet…" He held up the photo, "Where was he when you were attacked?"

"Boston, at a conference." She shrugged, "His friend was supposed to be taking care of me."

"But instead his friend attacked you?" Nico guessed.

He saw the way she blinked extra quickly, then she turned and grabbed her bag, "Bad things happen. The only thing we can do is try to move on."

He knew better than to press the subject, so he followed her out the door instead. "Weird question, you're straight, right?"

She snorted, "Yeah, I am."

"It's just, I didn't see any pictures of you with a guy, and I've never heard you talk about a boyfriend."

"I suppose you haven't."

"Were your past relationships that bad?" Nico asked, since she didn't seem to offer up any sort of examples of boyfriends.

She paused on the landing for the second floor, her face serious. "Look, I don't like talking about dating or boyfriends. It's nothing personal, it's not that I don't like you and all, I just…" She sighed, "I just don't talk about it."

Nico nodded, "That's fine. But…"

She sighed again, "But?"

"Can I ask why?"

She looked up at him, her pale blue eyes conveying a message that Nico knew well—back off or die, "Because there's nothing to really talk about. I don't define myself by my boyfriends, or my romantic life and there's no use getting depressed about my lack of dating while I'm pregnant." She started off down the stairs again.

Nico let the subject drop again, figuring he better stop poking the lion. But he also realized that this little woman who seemed so easy and charming had been through some nasty stuff to get through to where she was today. To who she was today. She wasn't that dissimilar from him, but he realized that she must have had some amazing people step in and keep her on track, people who treated her mental and emotional wounds when she got them. He wondered again about the foster situation she had ended up in, which reminded him that Connor was the one that introduced Meg to Annabeth and Percy. How did she know Connor?

Who was the girl deep inside?

"Okay, you always come a across pretty calm and sweet and relaxed, how?"

"I came to terms with embarrassing myself and reminding myself that others often feel embarrassed as well. Especially given my line of work. Besides, the world needs more kindness. More gentleness. There are so many people in the world that are hurting." Her voice became gentle, "I guess I've always been impartial to caring about people, and caring for people. As for the relaxed, I do a lot of cooking. It helps me unwind."

"Cassie bakes when she's anxious." Nico said, trying to spur the conversation on. He knew it didn't usually take long.

"Yeah, we exchanged a few recipes. But, I actually went to culinary school, got certified as a midwife while still attending. Graduated."

Nico felt surprised, "I got a degree in art after already designing four book covers thanks to Cassie. But you did both? At the same time?"

She nodded, "I always liked cooking. Couldn't tell you why."

"Explains all the equipment and dishes you have. And some of the ingredients in your fridge." Some of those had been different.

"Well, some of them were attempts at satisfying a craving. I had been planning on making Zuppa Tuscana with gnocchi for dinner." She made a clicking sound.

Nico thought his stomach would growl just from hearing the name of his favorite soup at Olive Garden, "You know how to make Zuppa Tuscana?"

"Well, yeah. I told you, I've got some Italian in me and that trickled down the ladder. I also worked at Olive Garden for three years." She kept walking.

"What haven't you done?"

"Gotten married." She ran a hand through her short hair, "Look, while you were training and skipping around with your friends, I was working to make something of myself. I was given an opportunity and I took it. First the job at Olive Garden, and they paid for culinary school through a scholarship, then I figured I might as well get certified as a midwife since I was born with this ability for it. Midwife pays better, so I kept that as my main job and enjoy being able to just cook for whoever I please."

"Think it'd please you to cook Zuppa Tuscana for me and Will?" Nico grinned hopefully.

She looked at him over the roof of the car, eyes narrowed for a moment, then her face broke out into a smile, "I think I have to, now. It's become a craving ever since I mentioned it."


	10. What is it?

To say that Meg settled in with them, and that it felt like she was an essential part of their household, might have been pretty accurate.

If not an understatement.

She cooked, and she took the time to show Nico how to cook the delicious meals she kept preparing for them. She hadn't been joking when she liked to cook, and that it helped her relax.

It was a good thing the boys had good appetites.

Nico liked talking with her about books and art, because she had similar tastes, with just enough difference that they both found themselves reading books the other recommended and giving it back with a 'Nope' but also managed to recommend books that the other loved.

Will could talk about more medical stuff that went over Nico's head, and the frustrations of trying to pass of his demigod abilities as technical knowledge, something she could definitely identify with since more than half of her knowledge was due to her gifts.

She was still going to work every day, but she worked shorter hours than Will, so she would leave at a decent time in the morning and be back about the same time or sometimes before Will. And she knew when to give them space so they would have time alone.

Plus it meant that when the baby kicked again, about three days after the first kick that was strong enough to be felt by Nico, Will was able to feel it.

Then Nico got to sit and laugh with Meg while Will freaked out, bursting with so much excitement it was a wonder the whole neighborhood didn't know what was going on.

But that didn't mean that Nico wasn't still impatient to find out if it was a girl or a boy.

And finally the day of the appointment arrived.

They would find out today.

"Provided everything goes well and the baby doesn't hide it." Megara told them both for probably the eightieth time that day as they went into the room.

Nico's mind was a blur of excitement and nervousness. He went over both of his daydreams, the one with a daughter, and the other with the son. He didn't understand most of the medical stuff they were saying. But he did hear when they said what gender it was.

"And there you go, it's a girl."

Nico covered his mouth with his hand to keep himself from shouting with excitement.

Will was grinning and laughing.

Meg was watching both of them with a grin, her eyes showing how happy she was for their excitement.

The rest of the appointment was a blur for Nico, he was just watching his baby girl on the screen, too happy to do anything but grin and think. Think about what he wanted to do for the mural. Think about telling everyone. Think about that baby girl, and all he imagined and hoped for their future as a family. A little girl, with blonde hair and blue eyes. With Will's gentleness and compassion, and the sweetness and kindness of Megara.

He marveled at how Meg could even do this. Have a baby for them, with her own egg, and be happy for them, even though she knew that she would be handing over the baby and not even really be part of her life, even if Nico fully intended to visit with Meg frequently. He couldn't imagine not seeing her again after the baby was born.

His baby girl.

Will's baby girl.

He stared at the picture of their baby on their drive home, tracing her outline, "She's going to be so beautiful."

"What?" Will asked, looking in the rearview mirror.

Nico blinked, surprised that he had said it out loud. "I…I said that she's going to be so beautiful."

Will grinned, "We should figure out a name now that we know that we're going to have a girl. We also have to figure out what last name we're going to use."

"Solace, definitely. Di Angelo has been bad luck for the women in my family for generations. The oldest woman I found in my family with Di Angelo for her last name got to be forty-two." Nico told them, "Solace is a much safer name."

Will nodded a bit, but looked a little reluctant.

Meg stayed quiet, gazing out the window.

Nico wondered what was going through her head. He wondered if she was really okay with giving up the baby she was carrying. He wondered what Will would think of letting Meg decide on the middle name.

"Who could that…oh no…" Will groaned, "Oh no."

"What is it?" Nico stretched to look at their driveway, where a strange car was parked. He didn't recognize it.

"It's my mom. She's here."


	11. Naomi

Nico suppressed a groan, "She has strange timing."

Will was gripping the steering wheel, the car parked. "No kidding."

"Um, strained relationship?"

"My mom is a bit…flighty. She kind of flits in, then disappears and leaves a mess. Musician."

Meg nodded, "I'm familiar with the type. Maybe I should…let you guys get reacquainted." She looked nervous.

Nico wished he could suggest something to get both him and her out of it.

Will shook his head, "The more people around, the better she behaves. Please?"

Nico couldn't help the groan, "I hate it when you beg."

"You just prefer when I beg in bed." Will teased, then got out.

Meg made a sort of gagging sound, "Could you not while I'm in hearing distance?" She also started getting out.

Nico snorted, "Sorry, he's just tense. He usually cracks jokes like that when his mom shows up. Honestly, it's embarrassing."

The three of them walked toward the house.

Nico could hear some guitar chords being played inside, "Why did we give her a key?"

"Because last two times she visited she arrived after midnight and you got mad that I was woken up." Will reminded him, an arm slipping around Nico's waist. "I thought you were going to summon skeletons to attack her."

Nico remembered, but barely, "I almost did. If I hadn't been half asleep I probably would have."

Meg hesitated by the door, "Um, aren't I staying in your guest bedroom?"

"It's a five bedroom house. Even with the nursery, and our master, there's three rooms we aren't using." Will shrugged.

Nico gave her a reassuring look, "I've got your back, mostly because I'm stuck visiting and you don't have to be."

Meg nodded slightly.

Will led the way in, "Mom?"

She looked up from her guitar, "Hey, baby!"

He went over and gave her a hug, "What brings you to town?"

"The baby shower!" She said as if it was obvious, "I can't miss my grandbaby's baby shower! I'm finally gonna be a grandmother!"

Will nodded, smiling, relaxing slightly, "Ah, right."

"And there's my other boy!" She hugged Nico tightly, like she was trying crush his ribs.

Nico hugged her back awkwardly, "Hi, Mrs. Solace."

"I told you to call me mom, or Naomi." She swatted his arm, and then looked at Meg. "And you must be the saint that's having the baby for my boys!"

Meg had a polite smile, "Megara, yes."

"Oh, let me see you!" Naomi examined Meg, then felt her stomach, "Oh yes, you'll do nicely."

Meg kept the polite look, but a quick glance at the boys spoke of the volumes to which she was wishing to escape. Especially since Naomi was going for a hug.

"So, Mom, how's the tour going so far?" Will asked abruptly, catching Naomi's attention and snapping it away from Meg.

Nico mumbled something about starting dinner and waved for Meg to follow.

Once they were safely in there, Meg shivered, "Okay, I know that I should be used to random people feeling my belly and all that but geez Louise."

Nico nodded, "I've had five years to get used to it. But I can't. Man, at least we can distract her from her lame tour stories with the news about the baby."

"Thinking of, didn't your friends all tell you they were coming over tonight to find out?" She pulled out the bread dough she had made earlier for breadsticks.

Nico groaned and cursed, "I forgot about that. Aw man! We better get cooking."

She smiled, "What does it look like I'm doing? We've been preparing for this all morning and we still have three hours. Plus they all said they were bringing a dish to share, and desserts." She preheated the oven.

Nico nodded, "Right. Right, so I just have to clean."

"Exactly, happy excuse." She started making some dip for the fruit platter they had cut up that morning.

He ran a hand through his hair, "Hey, Meg?"

"Hmm?"

"Look, I haven't talked with Will about this yet, but…" He wanted to make sure he said this right, "You know that you're more than just our surrogate, right? That you're also our friend? So, even after…"

She was watching him, her eyes soft, a faint smile, "Yes, I know. Even after. Now go clean."

Nico nodded and started in the bathrooms, then he moved to the living room where he was forced to talk about work as he straightened things up.

"I swear you never sit down and relax! It's just me, you don't have to straighten the pillows."

"We have friends coming over tonight to find out what gender the baby is." Nico explained.

Will's eyes widened slightly, "Oh, I forgot they said they were coming."

"Whoa, wait? You know what it is?"

Nico shared a grin with Will, "That's where we were this morning. That's why Will isn't at work."

"Are you going to make me wait?"

Will nodded, "Yeah, can't have you blabbing before we can make our announcement. I better help Nico clean, Mom." He gave Naomi a kiss on the cheek.

"Alright, I'll get out of the living room for you. Hey, is that girl living here?"

"Her apartment building kind of burned down, so yes." Will shrugged.

Naomi was quiet, a strange look on her face, "Well, just be careful." She put her guitar in it's case and went to the bedroom Will must have told her to use.

Nico frowned, "What does she mean by that?"

Will was frowning as well, "I don't know. It's Mom. She could be implying anything from 'be careful she isn't a thief' to 'be careful with the girl's emotions' to 'be careful not to get a lawsuit put on you'."

Nico snorted, "At least our friends didn't invite your grandmother to the baby shower."

Will stared at the wall, "We hope."

Nico groaned and kept cleaning.

"Hey mom, do you know if Grandma got an invitation to the baby shower?"

"Of course, she'll be up the day before."

Nico could strangle them all.

"Mom, does grandma know about me?" Will asked, looking a little pale.

It was quiet, "Well…"

"Dang it, Mom! You told me to let you handle telling her that I was dating a guy!" Will shouted.

"You've met your grandmother! She isn't exactly the type of person you can go up to and tell that her grandson is gay! She doesn't believe it!"

Nico groaned again, dropping onto the couch.

"Great, so I'm going to have to tell my grandmother that I'm gay as she comes to a shower for my baby?"

Naomi came back out, "Goodness, no! Wait until after she's given you the gift, then tell her. That way she doesn't take your gift with her when she leaves to find a priest to try and cleanse you of the demon that must be inside of you."

"Geez oh Pete, she's catholic, isn't she?" Meg asked, having come in to figure out what the shouting was about.

Nico looked at her, wondering why that distinction mattered.

"Yeah, she is. Why?"

"Catholics are pretty much the only ones who believe in modern demonic possession."

"And you know about this…how?"

"I'm a midwife. At least half of my clients are religious, and getting them to talk about their religion is an easy way to do my job because I can all but tune them out and get on with my job. Plus curiosity. I like many of the morals that Christians have."

Will shrugged a bit.

Nico shook his head, "I swear, the more I get to know you the less I actually know."

Naomi looked amused, "So you believe in…?"

Meg gave a mysterious smile, "A lot of different things. Mostly life, hope, love, compassion, grace, and forgiveness. And food." She went back into the kitchen.

"Well, she's a closet Christian." Naomi chuckled, "I have to go meet my agent, baby, I'll be back in an hour or two."

"Okay," Will said, still sounding somewhat defeated.

Naomi walked out the door.

Will groaned, "Now I have to figure out how to tell my grandmother."


	12. Name

They finished cleaning up, and Nico found himself staring at Will, "Look, I know your grandma's heart and everything else is bad. Why don't we just ask everyone to help us make sure she doesn't realize it's our baby? That way your grandma can die happy."

"No, that isn't fair to you."

"Look, I'll be fine. Besides, your grandma's hearing and sight is so bad that after she congratulates you and Meg and we make sure she has a seat toward the back with people like Hazel and Frank, then every announcement we do, and when we open the presents, she won't even be able to tell that it's us and our friends can totally cover for us." Nico had led the way into the kitchen, pulling Will along so that Meg could hear as well. "Your grandma is happy, we don't have to give her a heart attack, and we can go along our merry way since she'll probably only visit again when the baby is born to get a picture with her great granddaughter."

Meg glanced over, but didn't seem to have a comment.

Will looked upset, "I don't like lying."

"You know I'm right. Besides, she'll probably only stay for an hour, and after that we can really have fun and all." Nico added, "If we take an hour for food, and you talk to her about the baby and stuff, then before you know it she'll be tired and ready to leave and then we can actually celebrate this baby with our friends. The people who actually care about us."

Will pulled Nico into his arms and kissed the top of his head, "What did I ever do to deserve you?"

"You stopped me from turning into a ghost."

"Oh yeah."

"What'd I do to deserve you?"

Will was quiet, "Juries out."

Nico hit him, "Very funny."

Will chuckled, "Thanks for cooking, Meg."

"Twas a pleasure." She was starting to wash some of the dishes, but Will took the dish rag.

"Shoo, you've done more than enough. I can wash these."

She rolled her eyes, but joined Nico at the table. "You guys are going to make me stay for your get together tonight, aren't you?"

"Yes, yes we are." Nico grinned at her, "You know quite a few of them. It shouldn't be that bad. Besides, most of them already like you because you're helping us out. And they're bringing their kids so it will be a good test of the childproofing we've done."

"Who's in charge of watching said kids?"

"Our friend Eric's younger sister. She's really good at it and she likes it. Plus they're all four and under. The oldest is Melina Jackson, and while she can be really hyper and troublesome, she's also really intelligent and well-behaved."

She nodded, "Well, as long as someone is taking care of them." She frowned at her stomach, and rubbed in one spot.

"Kicking you?"

"Like crazy." She rubbed her temple, "I'm going to go lay down for a bit."

"Alright."

She left.

Nico looked at Will, "I think we should let her pick the middle name."

Will smiled, "She'll probably want the first name so she knows what will sound good."

"I guess we better get to work on that, then. Our friends will probably have suggestions."

"Why wait? Go to a baby name website and start reading off names that you like and I'll tell you what I think."

"You don't have any names already in mind?" Nico asked suspiciously.

"Not any good ones." Will shrugged, scrubbing a pot.

"Could I at least hear them?"

Will turned a bit red, "Um, Anastasia, Celia, Aurora, Echo, Leila, Chloe…" He shrugged, turning slightly so that Nico couldn't look at his face.

Nico smiled a bit, "I like Anastasia, Aurora, Celia, and Echo."

"R-really?"

"Yeah. Celia might be a little much. I mean, Celia Solace. That's a lot of Ssss."

Will chuckled, "Anastasia Solace isn't much better."

"Which gets us down to Aurora Solace, and Echo Solace."

Will rinsed the last dish, "I don't know. Something just doesn't seem right with Aurora. Not for this baby. Besides, it might not be a good idea to name our baby after the goddess of dawn."

"See, I was thinking more like Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, but yeah, maybe not for our first kid."

They were both quiet.

"Hang on, did we just decide on name?" Nico asked slowly, turning it over in his head. It needed a good middle name, but for now…he could see calling his daughter Echo. Maybe bring some happiness to that name.

"I think we did. We can always change our minds if we decide we hate it later." Will said hastily, obviously trying to make sure that he wasn't forcing the issue.

Nico grinned, "You ask her to pick out a middle name."

Will shook his head, "It was your idea."

"I don't care, you ask her. I was the one who asked her to have our baby in the first place."

Will hesitated, then nodded, "Fine, I'll go ask."

Echo Solace. Nico grinned.

Meg came back with Will, "You guys seriously picked out a name in twenty minutes?"

"Yeah, well, I had some names that I had been thinking about and Nico liked some of them and we went from there." Will said, "So, currently, her name is Echo Solace."

She smiled, "And you want me to pick her middle name?"

Will nodded, wrapping his arms around Nico, "We do. You can take your time, I mean, we just decided on—"

"Lark." She interrupted. "Echo Lark Solace."

Nico grinned.

Will gave a short laugh, "Oh gods, how am I supposed to wait now?"

"Patiently." Meg quipped. "And by putting out the food, I think someone's here."

"Nico, Will, Meg! We brought enchiladas!" Leo called through the house, "And your front door was open!"

Nico laughed, "We're in the kitchen."

"We don't tell anyone the name, not yet. Let's save that for the Baby shower. That way we don't get any personalized stuff." Will made a face, "Just in case we change our mind."

Nico and Meg nodded agreement.

Tonight was going to be amazing, even if Will's mom had crashed their house. They were telling their friends that they were going to have a baby girl.

What could be better than that?


	13. Announcement

Nico stuck beside Meg as their friends arrived one couple after the next with their kids in tow.

Will's mom had returned not long after Leo and them had arrived, something about her manager canceling.

Once Meg was talking with Annabeth and Percy, and grinning at their son, Nolan, Nico went to hug Hazel.

"I'm so glad you guys could come! I know it's a long trip from New Rome." He said, then hugged Frank, "Especially with a kid."

Hazel grinned, "This is one of the most exciting things that's happened for you in a while. You're my brother. You were there for us."

"I can shadow travel. You guys have to drive for seven or eight days."

"It's worth it." Frank said, "Besides, Leo and Calypso live here. And Percy and Annabeth live a short distance from here. New York is just the place to be right now. Plus we carpooled with the other people who live in California who were heading here. That saved all of us a good bundle of money that we can use for renting cars and staying in the motels."

"I'd offer for you guys to stay with us, but Will's mom…" Nico rolled his eyes, "She just shows up. Who does that?"

Hazel gave him a sympathetic look, "I'm sure she'll be fine."

He sighed, "I guess."

Connor and Katie arrived just then, "Hey all."

Nico grinned and greeted them, "Hey, glad you guys could make it!"

Katie smiled, "We were grateful for an excuse for the drive. It's the only thing that's been putting Mercury to sleep."

Connor grinned, "The kid likes to travel."

Nico shook his head, "He's so tiny." He knew that Mercury was a little premature when he was born about two months ago, but he didn't realize how tiny that made him.

Connor carefully pulled his son out of the car seat, "Yeah, but he's grown a lot since he was born. Yeah." His voice was soft, and gentle.

Nico studied the way Connor held his baby. He realized that he had only ever held a few of his friends babies and never for very long. And always sitting down.

"May I…hold him?" He asked, impulsively.

Katie nodded, "Of course, Nico."

Connor handed Mercury over, making sure Nico held him correctly. "You have to support his head, there. Perfect."

Nico smiled at them, then at Mercury. Just a few months, and he would be holding his daughter. It wasn't that far away. He could last that long. Besides, once she was born there were diapers and the crying, and the sleepless nights.

"We're going to grab some food. Find us if he gets fussy." Katie told him, then kissed the top of Mercury's head before walking away with Connor.

Travis came in, "Hey, anyone else still have to arrive?"

"Cassie and Malcolm, Piper and Jason, Reyna and Eric." Nico told him.

He grunted, "Right, I'll stay out here and kill the monsters so that they can't attack the kids."

Nico winced, "Is it bad?"

"Not yet. It's definitely going to be an adventure leaving your house, though. You guys did that thing so monsters can't get in, right?"

"Yeah, we did. And to the fence around our backyard."

Travis nodded, "Alright, just thought I'd check." He went back out.

"Thanks, Travis!" He called after the taller man, then turned to look for his boyfriend, checking on Mercury every three seconds.

Will found him, "Which of our extended adopted family is this?"

"Mercury, Connor and Katie's."

"Right. He's gotten a lot bigger." Will gently brushed a finger against one of Mercury's chubby cheeks.

"But he's so small."

"Actually, he's about normal for a baby." Will said, shrugging. "A little smaller, but not that much."

"Oh Hades, but…I'll break this!"

"Please don't. That's not ours."

"Will!"

"Nico, you'll be fine, I'll be fine. You're just not used to holding babies."

"And you are?"

"I did some time in the hospital nursery when I was in school, remember?" He gave Nico an easy smile, "And I have delivered babies before. I delivered a satyr the day the war broke out, remember?"

Nico smiled a little, "Yeah, you were freaking out. You grabbed my hand to show me how much your hands were shaking."

Will grinned, "Look, you've been holding him for a good amount of time now. You haven't broken him."

"He better not have, I'd have a hard time explaining that to Katie." Connor came back up, glancing over his son, "Nope, looks like he's all there."

Mercury started crying.

Nico's eyes widened, "What'd I do?!"

Both Connor and Will looked amused, as did Annabeth and Percy and the others who heard him.

"Nico, babies do that when they're woken up, which you didn't do, when they need their diaper changed, which is probable, or when they're hungry." Connor said easily, taking Mercury, "And the diaper wins." He held Mercury with one arm like he had held hundreds of babies, grabbed the diaper bag and disappeared.

"Don't worry man, first time fatherhood is hard." Percy encouraged, "Connor's just a freak and Will's just a doctor."

Nico nodded, surprised that he found that comforting, "So you freaked out?"

Percy nodded, "Even after helping my mom and Paul with my sister."

Nico nodded slowly, "Right. Okay."

Cassie and Malcolm came in with little James, and Nico grinned.

Cassie came over, "Hey, I'm so excited to find out what you're having!"

"I'm so happy you guys came." He hugged her, "I take it James wasn't sick?"

She shook her head, "No, thankfully. It was just one of those fevers that came and went without any other symptoms. The doctor said he was fine."

Will took James, "I have to agree!" He held James so the his head was on Will's shoulder.

James seemed to babble something, then just calm down and start drifting.

Nico grinned, "You're actually good with babies. This isn't fair."

"You'll get better with practice. You can start by practicing with one of the older ones." Will said encouragingly.

Piper, Jason, Reyna, Eric, Eva and Travis all came in, with their respective kids. Well, except Travis and Eva since they didn't even have someone they were dating, let alone kids.

But that meant that everyone could get food and listen to the announcement.

There were bets going around about whether it was a boy or a girl, much to Nico's amusement, even between couples. Money, food, babysitting services, all were used for these bets.

And after they announced it, there was this collective shout of excitement which woke up any kids that were sleeping and threw the house into happy chaos. The kind of chaos that seemed to lift everyone's spirits, even if they were trying to calm their children or cashing their bets. The kind of chaos that reminded Nico of how strange his family was, all these people so ecstatic for them. Even when they had their own news to be ecstatic about. Like Piper being pregnant again.

They definitely added that to their toast.


	14. Baby Shower

Nico managed to finish the mural the day before the shower. He was ecstatic. It turned out just the way he wanted it to, even the area that he messed up now fit the wall perfectly. He didn't even care if Echo got older and decided she wanted to paint over it. He'd help her. But until then, this was there. His love for his baby girl. His Echo Lark.

He also went mattress shopping and got Meg a new one since he and Will discovered it was hard as a board.

She had said she didn't mind.

They did. In fact, they both said they should have realized she was uncomfortable when she was always so sore. Her back, her legs, her neck. And they both had known she wasn't sleeping well.

But Nico had found out that she hadn't ever been on a soft mattress, or it had been a very long time. Because when he had discovered how hard her mattress was (he had sat down on it while talking with her and then laid back and realized how uncomfortable it was and freaked out because that couldn't be good for her) he had made her go take her nap on his and Will's bed and she had said that it was the softest bed she had ever been on. Then said she was probably exaggerating.

Nico didn't think she was. He had realized that other than buying food that she liked, and clothes that would fit and looked profession, she didn't spend money on herself. Ever. It wasn't that she was a penny-pincher or that she was trying to be frugal. She made good money as a midwife. She just didn't think she should spend her money on herself.

Nico had taken that mattress to the garage to be disposed of (Leo would probably want to get the metal from it for his inventions), grabbed his keys, and told Will that he was getting new mattresses for the guest bedrooms.

Will had responded with a, "Go for it."

Nico loved that Will just went with most of his antics. Of course, Will probably felt bad because of his mother being there and disturbing their lives by getting drunk and being loud and just existing. Also because of his grandmother. But, it didn't matter. Nico would make it up to Will. One way or another.

Or both ways.

Anyway, he had gotten new mattresses for the guest bedrooms, and they noticed almost an immediate improvement in Meg's energy levels.

The evenings were a little hard, especially since Naomi had decided that Nico shouldn't allow Meg to cook.

Meg started spending more time at work, telling the boys that Naomi was just a little much for her to handle.

Which meant Nico spent more time alone with Naomi, and listening to her when she told him for the hundredth time about when Will was a baby, and things she did the he should do to get ready for the baby. Then she would talk about music and such.

Nico dreaded seeing Grandmother Solace at the shower. But he got himself ready and drove himself and Meg, to the shower.

Will was already there, having driven straight from work, but he must have changed at work.

All of their friends from camp were already there, mingling, talking politely with Will's mom and grandmother.

"I don't want to be here." Meg said suddenly. "I can't be here."

Nico put a hand on her shoulder, "Please, Meg, we need you. I know this is going to be hard for you. I promise I'll try to make it up to you. Even if you leave right after his Grandmother. Just…please."

"Fine, but if I start crying we say it's the hormones."

"Okay. We should have asked you about this anyway. We just assumed, and we should have known better." Nico apologized.

She took a shaky breath, "Too late now."

He nodded a bit.

She went over to Will, putting on what looked like a truly genuine smile and talking with her, making small gestures like her and Will were actually a couple, everything just right to make his grandmother believe.

Nico could hear the old woman start talking about how they should have gotten married first, and that they were doing the same thing that her daughter did.

Naomi gave a strained smile, "Mother, get over it."

"I will not! And what did that man do, besides dump you along the side of the road? If it hadn't been for that boarding school Will would have turned out much worse than you. At least he's a doctor."

"I refused his offer of marriage," Meg said, interrupting. "I have severe Gamophobia. Fear of Marriage. My doctor thinks it's because my father's marriages never worked and because I watched all of his wives standing in the rain with all of their thing. Honestly, he's lucky I didn't completely run away on him when he proposed."

"That I am." Will agreed, kissing her cheek.

Nico could tell it was taking every ounce within Will to continue lying.

Grandmother Solace grumbled something about Meg being a crackpot.

Leo nudged him and gave him a very sarcastic thumbs up.

Nico shook his head, "She needs to go." He muttered to Leo.

Leo shrugged, "We could have someone pretend to be a stripper."

"Why is that the first thing you come up with?"

He shrugged, "I don't know."

Surprisingly, his grandmother didn't even last half an hour, and because his mom had driven her here, they both left.

Nico silently sent up a prayer of thanks to all of the gods, then found Meg, "If you still want to leave…"

"It's fine. I'll be fine." She said quietly.

He nodded a bit, he could tell that his friends had picked up the vibe of their conversation, they all seemed to end up clustered as they started one of the games.

"At least I can stop pretending that I'm Will's girlfriend."

"Yeah, gamophobia?"

She shrugged, "I looked it up before coming here. Thought we might need an excuse."

"Still, that was…you were awesome. Are awesome. I think you're one of the nicest, most selfless people I know, and that's saying a lot. Especially since I don't think we've scratched the surface of getting to know you. There's so much about you that makes sense even though it doesn't." He grabbed a cookie, "I just don't understand why you agreed to be our surrogate in the first place. You didn't even know us."

She had a ghost of a smile, "But I had heard about you. From Cassie, and from the Jacksons, and Connor. And at Camp. I'm always more inclined to help half-bloods, they already have tough lives. If they've gotten to the stage where kids are even a question…I'd say that they've been extremely fortunate. And If I'm capable, and they are not, why shouldn't I help them? You asked me to have children for you, out of love for your boyfriend."

"But the pain, the discomfort, the…giving the baby to the family…"

"Is worth it when I see how happy they are. And their friends for them." She shrugged, "Besides, I have a purpose just like everyone else. Who's to say that helping you and Will isn't part of my purpose?"

"Nico! Come on! We want you guys to open presents." Frank called.

Nico waved a hand, "Just a sec! You don't have to—"

"Oh please, someone has to explain to you what the things are so you don't embarrass yourselves."

"Come on, Meg too!" Reyna said, coming over and pulling them toward the table, piled high with gifts, and with gifts surrounding it. "We got her gifts too."

Meg looked kind of surprised.

They were all seated and started opening presents.

The gang had gotten Meg spa treatments, bath salts, and other girly things that she could use during and after her pregnancy. Nico was really glad his friends had thought of that.

He and Will got an assortment of things, some of which they hadn't even realized they would need. And diapers. Lots of diapers.

After they finished with the presents, Will stood up.

"We want to thank our friends, for everything they got us and the advice they compiled." He started, "And we wanted to tell you guys the name we picked out for her."

"You already have a name?!" Reyna grinned.

Nico nodded, "Echo Lark Solace."

"Aw, that's so cute!"

"She's going to be so adorable!"

Leo looked like someone had hit him over the head, but he slowly smiled and nodded.

Nico didn't know what that was about, but he liked that everyone like Echo's name.

Reyna got everyone under control again, "Alright, now, before we start decorating the onesies—and there are only three per person, so don't mess up—I want to personally thank Megara. You've done so much for our friends, our family, and somehow I get the feeling that you'll always be doing more. So thank you."

Meg nodded a bit.

Nico and Will sat on either side of her while they decorated, enjoying that their friends would rotate who was sitting with them to change paint colors or get certain decorations.

Laughing at some of the sad attempts at being artistic.

Then they got help to pack up the cars, and went home. Nico and Meg following Will in relative silence.

"Heard from Emily?"

"Yeah, she told me that their son is doing well. They're making some friends. He got a promotion."

"That's good. You been talking to your other friends too?"

"My former legal guardian, yes. A couple others." She shrugged.

He didn't know what else to ask without feeling like he was prying. "How did you meet Connor Stoll?"

"We were in a couple classes together. Emily had a crush on him," She explained. "And he was a halfblood, so we talked."

"Oh," He responded, kind of disappointed. He had been hoping that maybe it would reveal part of who she was.

"Nico?"

"Yeah?"

"What I told you before…that wasn't entirely true." She pursed her lips.

"Okay, what part?"

"My purpose."

"Go on."

She glanced at him, "The one time I met my mom…it was when I was a surrogate for my other friend and his wife. She told me that I would never get to raise children of my own. I could have children, but I would never raise them."

Nico was glad they were at the stop sign, "What?"

"She said that when I had fulfilled my purpose, that I would have my own children, but I would never raise them." She shrugged, "So…I'm not in a hurry to get a boyfriend."

"That's awful. Why would she tell you that?"

She shook her head, "Because she's a midwife. We try not to sugar coat things when they're bad. When things are bad, we get to work."

"So, when you said that you would have as many kids for us as we wanted you were being serious…because…"

"Because that would mean that I was further away from my own death. Stupid, right? Can't hide from death, can't cheat fate. Just…don't tell anyone. Please?"

It made sense. She didn't care how she lived, because at least she was living. And by doing her job, she helped people. She made a difference. That was what was important to her. She was living like she was dying. She was trying to do as much good as she could with what time she had.

Nico parked the car in the driveway, then looked at her, "I can't…I can't promise that."

She nodded slowly, "Try not to tell anyone?"

He nodded in return, "I'll try." He didn't think he'd be able to succeed though. Especially not when Will would ask him what was on his mind that night. He didn't know how long he would be able to last.


	15. Fight

Finally, they had the house back to just Will, Nico, and Megara. Will's mom just disappeared one night with all of her luggage.

Will wasn't too worried, he just found out where her next performance was and saw that she had actually shown up for it and then let it go.

And they fell back into their old routines.

Meg would teach Nico how to cook, Will would come home from work and they would all eat, then they would go into the living room and watch a show or movie before Meg would retire to her room for some alone time. She would usually reappear around the time that Will was going to bed for a snack, and would chat with Nico for a couple minutes before saying goodnight to them and disappearing again, unless Nico was staying up later. Then she might sit with him and talk, or watch a show with him.

Sometimes Nico would get her to talk about her life by telling her about his.

He found out more about her life after she was fully taken from her father. About her foster home. Classes she took in college. The first baby she ever delivered. Her first date, and her first kiss. She slowly opened up to him, and Will. She slowly trusted them with who she was.

When they only had about two months left before Echo arrived, Meg told them that she was going to visit her friend Emily for a week. Something about a birthday.

"I'll be back on Tuesday. Yes, I will drive carefully." She stuck the last of her bags into the car she was renting.

"Alright, are you sure you want to make this trip alone?" Will asked, closing the trunk and checking her vitals again.

She sighed, "I'm sure. Come on, I need to go if I'm going. It takes about six and half hours to get to Dover from Westfield."

"Why Vermont? It's so far. What if something happens to you?" Will asked, looking worried.

Nico nudged him, "Hey, you don't even worry about me this much."

"Don't worry, Will. I can take care of myself." She said, giving him a smile.

"Are you sure?"

"She's sure. It's not like this is her first time driving almost seven hours. And she's been—"

Meg cut him off with a look, "If this is you trying, then you suck at it. You can tell Will, but not until I'm long gone. Got it?"

He relaxed a bit, and nodded, "Thanks, Meg."

Will looked a little lost, then looked at Nico, "You've been keeping secrets?"

"You'll understand later." Nico told him, kissing his cheek, "And I'll make it up to you."

Will nodded, still looking a little miffed.

"Just…no overreacting when I get back and I don't want to talk talk about it. At all." She pointed at Will, "No feels."

Will's eyes widened, suddenly seeming to understand that whatever the secret was, it was important. He slowly nodded.

She nodded, then hugged them both, "Bye."

"Bye Meg."

Nico slid his arm around Will's waist and waved as she pulled away.

"What am I not supposed to talk about?" Will asked.

Nico looked up at him, and saw the worry in his eyes. "Meg told me about herself. I know almost her whole life story. There are still some gaps, but…I know enough."

Will looked down at him, "This sounds like serious talk. I'll get the hot chocolate. You go make the bed."

Nico grinned. He loved it when Will made them sit and talk about things over hot chocolate. It was their way of pretending that they knew what the heck they were doing, especially early on in their relationship. When they were still in school. Plus once they finished their talk there would usually be some kissing, which would evolve into wrestling which would devolve into more exciting things.

He went in and made their bed, then climbed on.

Will came in with their mugs of hot chocolate, "Alright, spill. No, I mean, tell me."

"Sit first. Sip first." Nico reminded him. He wasn't going to forego tradition.

Will sighed, setting his mug down and climbing onto the bed, sitting pretzel style next to Nico. Then he grabbed his mug and managed a small sip. "Go."

"Meg was taken away from her Dad on charges of neglect and emotional abuse, and lived in a foster home run by a half-blood until she was eighteen, when her and her best friend managed to get into dorm rooms together at college. But that's not the important part. The import—"

"Whoa! Slow down, Nico. You're talking at about fifty miles per minute. What do you mean neglect and emotional abuse?"

"He was never around, and she got hurt because of it, so she was partially put into foster care. Then it got to the point that whenever he was around, he tore her down and her legal guardian said enough and took Meg fully away from her father, now there's a restraining order on him. Also, there was something about trying to arrange a wedding when she was fifteen."

Will shook his head, "That's…"

"Awful, yeah. Anyway, then at the baby shower, I asked her why she agreed to have our baby. She told me she was more inclined to help half-bloods because we already have it pretty hard anyway and all that. But then, on our way home…she told me why she was so open to it." Nico took a sip of his hot chocolate.

Will's curiosity was piqued, "Why?"

Nico sighed, "Apparently, the one time she met her mother…it was the second time she was a surrogate. And her mom told her that she would have her own kids, but that she would never raise them."

Will looked confused, then a light dawned in his eyes, "Oh…she'll…"

"Die before she ever raises her own kids. So, she's not looking for a boyfriend. And she was serious when she would be available for us if we wanted more kids after Echo." Nico finished.

Will winced, "So I probably shouldn't have set her up on that date the other night."

"Is that where she was? Oh, Will!" Nico would have hit him if they both weren't holding mugs of hot chocolate.

"What? I thought it would be nice to help some friends who were having trouble in their love lives out. Besides, she seemed pretty excited when she got back from the date."

Nico had a sinking feeling, "Help…some friends? Oh, no…who did you set her up with?"

Will took a sip of hot chocolate, obviously trying to avoid answering.

"Will? Who?"

Will made a gesture, "I thought I was doing my friends a favor! I thought they'd be good together."

"Will, we don't even have that many single friends! I can't count the single guys on one hand and…" He had a sudden flash of realization and he couldn't believe it. "No…you didn't."

Will looked guiltily down into his mug.

"You…you set her up…with Travis Stoll?" Nico couldn't believe he had even thought of it. Let alone Will. That would never happen. Could never happen. Didn't they both have it hard enough without the struggles the other was going through?

Will shrugged, "They were talking at the party where we told everyone the gender, and again at the baby shower."

"He's like, five years older than her!"

"Oh please, it's four. And age gaps are more acceptable the older you get. Look, I knew Meg was lonely, and Travis has been a little down, so I just…set them up on a date."

"You said she was excited."

"When she got home, yeah. I would be too if a Stoll kissed me like that." Will shook his head.

Nico glared, "Excuse me?"

Will glanced over and blushed a bit, "I'm sorry I find them attractive. Don't worry, I'm all yours. Especially since we're expecting."

"He kissed her?!" Nico exploded, not even caring that he killed the bamboo on his nightstand.

"Wait, that's what you're worried about?" Will looked almost insulted.

"Yes, Will! She's pregnant with our baby, her life depends on her not trying to raise her own kids, and she allowed Travis Stoll to kiss her after their first date!"

"Nico…" Will had a soft look on his face, a sad one, "You're the one who told me that sometimes death can't be prevented."

"Yeah, and you set her up with one of our friends who will be crushed when he finds out that if he wants to have kids with her, he'll lose her! You know Travis wants a family! Gods, Will! How could you do something so stupid?!" Nico started pacing the floor.

Will didn't respond.

Nico didn't care, he wasn't done, "Why do you always have to try and help people? Sometimes things can't be helped! And you know that Travis works in Dover, Vermont, right? So they're going to be even more thrown in together! Ugh! I can't…I can't even look at you right now. So freaking stupid." He stormed out of the room, his mind racing.

He wasn't being fair. He knew it. He knew he wasn't being fair to Will. He knew part of it was fear for his friends. Fear for him and Will, if she suddenly decided to have a family of her own and died. He was afraid of going to a friend's funeral. And he knew that Will was just trying to be a good friend. He hadn't known about Meg's fate. How could he? Nico hadn't told him.

Nico realized that Will hadn't even bothered to call after him.

He groaned and sat down on the couch. He hated that he was so right, and yet so very, very wrong.

He sighed, grabbing the baby guide book for some self defense, then went back to their bedroom, "Will?"

Will hadn't moved, his head down in his hands, still sitting pretzel style on the bed.

He was crying. Crap. Nico had made him cry.

"Will, I'm sorry. I…I was wrong to attack you like that. And helping people is one of the things I love most about you. You didn't know about Meg's fate. I'm sorry."

Will looked up at him. He didn't even try to wipe the tears away like normal, "I-I don't feel like I'm helping people. I feel more useless than I ever have before."

"Will, you're an amazing trauma surgeon! You help people everyday."

"I also watch someone die almost everyday!" Will covered his mouth, trying to control his breathing.

Nico climbed onto the bed and over to Will, wrapping his arms tightly around his boyfriend, "Oh Will."

"I thought it would be easier. They aren't my friends or my family, so…" He sobbed, "How can we put a child in this world? What if she gets hurt? Or in an accident?"

"Then you'll save her, like you've saved hundreds of campers, and patients. You're a healer, and if it was our daughter, there is nothing that would stop you and me from saving her. I don't care if I had to go kidnap your father, or threaten mine." Nico growled out the last part, glaring at the wall as he imagined having to do it. "She's going to get hurt, Will. It's not a question of if, it's when. But you taught me that we shouldn't live in fear. You taught me to look on freaking bright side, so take a look with me. In less than two months we are going to have a daughter. A baby girl of our own. She's going to call you Daddy, and me Papa. And we're going to be happy. Totally, irrevocably happy."

Will nodded, "I know…I know…"

Nico kissed him, "I know that you've been stressed about having time for Echo, and that work has been getting to you. Especially with the increase of crashes thanks to winter. But you know that I love you, right?"

"Of course." Will rested his head in Nico's lap. "I'm worried about Meg making this trip. We're supposed to get a blizzard Monday and Tuesday."

Nico chewed his lip, trying to think of a solution, "Maybe we should ask Travis to give her a ride back, if the forecast doesn't change. He's good on the roads."

"He should be." Will replied softly. His breathing still sounded a little shaky.

Nico started running his fingers through his boyfriend's golden hair, "You should try to relax. It's the weekend. And you didn't have to work on a Saturday. Besides, once the baby comes, nobody will be sleeping."

"I know that we don't have Echo yet…but…"

"Yes, I do think I would want another kid." Nico was fairly certain that was the line of conversation Will was trying to grab hold of.

He was awarded with a soft smile.

"You really think Meg is lonely?"

"Remember that love language test that Cassie told us to take?"

"Yeah, I was all basically all quality time and words of affirmation or some crap like that and you had a four-way tie. There are only five love languages."

"Well, Meg is physical touch and quality time, then I think it was like, acts of service, I think."

Nico couldn't help but wonder when that conversation occurred.

"You were at that art meeting." Will explained when he glanced at Nico's face, "Anyway, you know how we've taken turns sitting with her on the couch?"

"Yeah, helps her be more comfortable when we hold her." Stupid new couch. Didn't have that comfy-broken in feeling yet, so for her to be comfortable, they had started sitting with her, her mostly laying down, but her head on one of their shoulders. They started doing that after she had one of her mood swings and was crying because she just couldn't get comfortable.

"Yeah, that's basically the only meaningful affection she's been receiving." Will shrugged, "And she's a hormonal mess because her body is preparing for birth. So…anyway, I found out she was lonely."

"Damn." Nico frowned, "There isn't much we can do for that."

"There is, but it would be awkward. And it would involve a lot more cuddling. So, I thought…boyfriend. For her. Unless we wanted to start taking naps with her and spooning her." Will snorted.

Nico couldn't even begin to think about how awkward the approach to that conversation would be, "Yeah, that would be a little awkward. Maybe with the second kid."

Will laughed.


	16. Hospital

Nico paced the waiting room, "They said it was just false labor, so why are we still here?"

"Because Meg disagreed with them so they're running more tests." Will's leg was bouncing.

Nico felt a chill go up his spine as he sensed someone die somewhere in the hospital. "I hate this. Did we ever decide if it was going to be a home birth?"

"Yes, she decided for us. And it is. Provided everything is okay, today."

Nico managed to stop pacing, staring at the TV for a moment, "I need to get out of here for a while. I'll be back soon, okay?"

"I'll call you if there's anything wrong." Will nodded, understanding.

Nico nodded back, then kissed Will's cheek and went to find someplace he could shadow travel away. He just wasn't sure where he would go. To visit Hazel? No. He was too freaked out, she would just worry about him and the baby and they didn't even know if they needed to worry about the baby yet.

He finally just shadow traveled to the underworld. He didn't know why. He could say he wanted to show Persephone the last ultrasound photo that they had. He hadn't visited since then, so it was a valid excuse, he guessed.

"Nico? What are you doing here?"

He blinked in surprise at Persephone, "Um, I needed to get away for a little while and I thought you might like to see the ultrasound of my daughter."

She actually smiled at him, "Of course, and I'm sure your father wants to hear all about it."

He nodded slightly and followed her out to his father's throne room.

"Hades, Nico is here to tell us about his daughter."

Hades greeted Nico with a respectful nod, "I thought it had been a while since we heard anything."

Nico pulled the picture out. "She's due in about a month, but that's from a couple months ago. We've decided to name her Echo Lark."

"Solace or Di Angelo?" Persephone asked.

Nico smiled, "Solace, it has a better history in his family. Will's grandmother is like, a hundred and eighty."

"Ooh, that's a mistake." Hades looked alarmed.

Nico arched an eyebrow.

"Oh, you were exaggerating. Continue."

"Well, there isn't much else to tell. She hasn't been born yet. We did have to take Megara to the hospital. That's where I was before here. But hospitals…" He kind of shrugged and shuddered.

Persephone wrinkled her nose, "Home birth would be much cleaner."

"She's not in labor. The doctors said false labor, but with her being the daughter of Eileithyia, she knows what is and isn't labor and whatever it was had her worried."

"Are you here to threaten me?" Hades looked amused.

Nico snorted, "Do I need to?"

Hades waved a hand, "I told you, Nico. I wish to see you happy. If this child will make you more happy, I'm hardly going to be the one who interferes. But even I don't dare defy the fates."

Nico nodded, "I know. I just…needed to get away from dying people."

"By going to the dead people?" Persephone handed him a rose, "Go back to your love, go check on your baby and the kind woman who carries the child for you. And Nico?"

"Yeah?" He was a little unnerved by her kindness.

She gave him a wry smile, "Don't let some guy kidnap your little girl."

Nico laughed.

Hades harrumphed, and Persephone started laughing.

Nico went back to the hospital, going back to the waiting room.

Will looked up and smiled, "Hey, good trip?"

"My step mom just told me to make sure no one kidnaps my little girl. In front of my dad."

Will sputtered, then started laughing. "Tell me she did that just because your father was listening."

"Of course."

"Dr. And Mr. Solace?"

Will gave Nico an amused grin, "Yes?"

"She's in room 566."

Nico felt the amusement fade, worry coming back. He followed Will to the elevator.

Thankfully, they were the only people in the elevator.

"They wouldn't admit her if it was nothing to worry about, right?"

Will just put his arm around Nico, "I'm sure everything will be fine. I know most of the nurses, and quite a few of the doctors. It'll be okay."

Nico looked up at Will, "Let's say everything will be okay after we see her and know that the baby is okay."

Will gave him a soft smile, then took his hand and led the way to the room she was in.

She looked a little upset with the nurse, "I'm not hungry."

"But you really—"

"I'm not going to eat if I'm not hungry. If I get hungry, I will call and order myself whatever sounds least disgusting." Meg snapped.

The nurse looked like she was going to press the matter.

Will stepped up, "I'll make sure she orders lunch, Sasha." He grabbed the clipboard with Meg's info and started reading it.

Nico went and took Meg's hand as Sasha left, "Hey, you okay?"

"I have stupid appendicitis." She glared at her stomach, "Which is dangerous in the third trimester for several reasons. So I have to have surgery."

Nico's eyes widened, "What? But you're eight months pregnant…that can't be safe!"

"There's a larger chance of perforation of the appendix when a woman is in her third trimester." Will said calmly, "I know the surgeon, he's done this before. He's good."

"Are you sure, cause he seemed like a quack?" Meg must have been in one of her mood swings.

"Dr. Sadana is an excellent surgeon."

Meg frowned, "I have Dr. Papadopoulos."

Will frowned back, "Who's…oh…no…"

Nico shook his head, "He wouldn't…why would he?"

"Who?"

Nico and Will met each other's gaze, "Lester."

"Okay…who?"

Will cleared his throat, checking to make sure no one was within earshot, "My father."

Meg stared at him, then Nico, then closed her eyes and muttered something under her breath.

"Alright, we have you scheduled for surgery tomorrow! We had to rearrange a few people, but someone died so that helped." Nico watched Lester walk in and up to her bedside with a clipboard, "And we'll get you all fixed up and right out of here."

Meg looked truly terrified.

"F—Lester, what are you doing here?"

"Keeping my granddaughter safe." He winked at the boys, then looked at Meg, "You're in excellent hands. And I'm sure you'll make a miraculous recovery."

"Thanks." She said through clenched teeth.

"A pleasure," Lester nodded for Will to follow.

Will gestured for Nico to wait there.

"My surgeon is the god Apollo." Meg shook her head. "What did I get myself into?"

"Just be glad my Dad agreed not to pop in to visit you."

She shuddered, "This is going to be the death of me."

"Let's hope not. You still owe me for bailing last Friday." Travis said by the door.

Nico grimaced.

Meg looked surprised, "Travis? What are you doing here?"

"We were on the phone when you decided you needed to be taken to the hospital. I thought I would come see how you were doing. Also, I brought burgers."

Nico's stomach growled, "You're a saint."

"Burgers?" Meg grinned.

Travis shrugged, "Hospital food sucks. So, why are you in the hospital. I know you said that you were experiencing pain, but…"

"Appendicitis."

He nodded, "Ah, that's…dangerous. You have a good surgeon?"

"Well, I apparently have Apollo for my surgeon, so maybe?"

Travis shuddered a bit, "Well, at least we know he can heal whatever he damages." He kissed Meg's cheek, then smoothed her hair a bit before unpacking the food on the table. He tossed Nico a burger, then got Meg set up with a burger and fries. "It could start early labor, though, couldn't it?"

She nodded, "Yeah, which isn't as dangerous since I'm…three weeks from term? But still, there is some risk."

Nico suddenly had a hard time swallowing.

"I'm sure everything will be fine." Travis gave her a reassuring smile.

"Why are you in town?"

"Well, I was visiting Connor and Katie in Michigan, but I was on my way back to Vermont when I called. I was driving through Pennsylvania, on 90, and thought I would stop by to make sure you were okay."

"What do you have against Canada?" Nico asked.

Travis chuckled, "They have something against me, actually. They're pretty strict about people with records."

Meg shook her head, "Do I want to know what's on your record?"

"Eh, I stole a car when I was twelve. Got all the way to New York with it."

"They reject you because of that?" Nico would hate to see what they did with him.

"No, but things get difficult and I get delayed for hours. In the end, it's faster to go through the states for me." Travis stole one of her fried, and received a glare that even startled Nico.

"My French fries."

Travis nodded slowly, "Right, no problem."

Nico chuckled, "Possessive over food, check."

She glanced at him, "I should apologize to that nurse."

"She's probably used to it."

That seemed to worry Meg more.

"Meg, there's time to apologize later. Eat now, worry later." Travis said easily.

Nico gave him a grateful look. He was pretty sure what he had said made it worse, raising his chances of being a victim of a mood swing. He wasn't used to women.

Will came back in, heading straight for the burgers, "Dad said that you're not really in any danger, they're just taking it out to be safe and he's making sure that they don't mess up and stuff like that. He just wanted to make sure that that was what it actually was."

Meg nodded, "As long as he didn't show up because he thought I was dying."

Will gave her a smile, "If you were dying, death boy over there would know."

Nico nodded, "That's true. And death is a long ways away from you and Echo."

She smiled at them, "This is not how you two had planned to spend your day. You should go, try and catch another showing of that movie."

"We c—"

"Go! I'm fine. I'm having surgery tomorrow. It's driving Nico crazy being here, and Will, you shouldn't be at work on your day off. Go, I have my books." She made a shooing gesture with her hands. "Besides, I'm sure Travis will keep me company for at least a little while."

Travis grinned and nodded.

Will reluctantly nodded, "Alright, we'll check on you again tonight, before visiting hours are over."

"Okay."

Nico kissed her cheek, then followed Will out.


	17. Labor

Nico stepped back and smiled. His daughter's nursery was perfect. His life was perfect. Or would be, very soon.

"Looks good, Nico. I love the mural." Meg said softly, standing in the doorway.

"You should still be resting." He reproached lightly.

"Well, I finished the blanket I was making for her and thought I'd bring it in here." She raised her arm, which had the blanket draped over it, to show him.

He was surprised. He hadn't even known that she was making a blanket for Echo. "When did you…"

"Evenings, when I was in the hospital. I had been keeping it at work and working on it during lunch." She shrugged, "But I had more time on my hands than I knew what to do with here, so I brought it home to work on. I know blue isn't generally a girl's color, but it was such a pretty blue." She fingered the edge.

Nico smiled, "I'm sure she'll love it." He took it from Meg and draped it over the side of the crib.

He turned back to see her making a face, holding her stomach a bit. "You alright?" He stepped back next to her, a hand on her arm.

She pursed her lips, then nodded, "Um, yeah. Probably just false labor."

"Probably?" He asked.

"I'm keeping track." She shrugged, "But that's only the second time it's happened."

He nodded slowly, "You know what you're doing."

"I do." Her hand went back to supporting her back, "Now, what are we having for dinner tonight?"

"I thought I would make some roast beef, with mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn."

"Mmm, perfect." She waddled down the hall with him.

"I thought it sounded like a good meal, especially since it's so damn cold."

She rolled her eyes, "Normally, I would say stop swearing. But…sometimes it's just accurate."

He laughed, "How was your date with Travis?"

"Embarrassing, I had a mood swing."

"Oooh, how bad?"

"I was bawling over spilled water."

"Was the water at least spilled on you?"

"Yeah, it was. My shirt. I was just so embarrassed, and the waiter apologized like, three hundred times, but I was just…in tears."

"I'm sure Travis didn't care."

"No, he was fine, he told the waiter it was fine and everything and that I was just a little hormonal. I ate free." She rubbed her arms.

"There are worse things."

She gasped a bit, wincing and checking her watch.

Nico waited, then suggested that she sit down.

She nodded, sitting in one of the dining-room chairs so she could talk with him while he cooked. "Otherwise, it was good. I like that he's totally okay with how I live. And that I have prior commitments."

"Does he know about…you know?"

"He does, yes." She smiled a bit, "I'll peel potatoes for you."

He nodded, bringing her the peeler, bag of potatoes, and a garbage can. He then started their almost daily back-and-forth Q&A period, where he asked about childcare and stuff and she answered with amusement. Sometimes a cooking question would get thrown in there.

Half an hour into it, on a question about what he would do while she was giving birth (did he have to be in the room? Did he have to do anything gross?) she didn't answer.

He looked over at her, and realized, she was checking her watch.

"Nico, you better call, Dierdre. And Will."

"What?" He dropped the spoon he was stirring with.

"It isn't false labor. Call Dierdre and Will." She said calmly, "I'm going to go to the bedroom."

Nico's heart-rate skyrocketed. He grabbed his phone, dialing Will first since it would take him longer to get here, then Dierdre, Meg's midwife. He then hurried to do all of the stuff that Meg had instructed them to do when she went into labor.

His daughter was on her way.


	18. Echo Lark Solace

"And here she is!" Dierdre said, her voice cheerful.

Will helped her with the last bit that Nico wanted nothing to do with or to know about.

Nico kept holding onto Meg, poor, exhausted Megara.

"Took you long enough, sweetheart." Meg breathed, and then grinned along with Nico as she heard the baby crying.

Will checked Echo over, and he and Dierdre cleaned her up a bit before bringing her up to Meg. Will was grinning, holding their baby, even as he handed her to Megara.

Nico covered his mouth, taking in the sight of his baby girl. Her tiny hands, her tiny red face, her tiny voice as she cried.

Meg held Echo against her skin, humming softly.

Nico was afraid to touch the baby, not in this delicate moment. He was afraid if he moved, everything would shatter around him.

The midwives were busy cleaning up under the direction of Deirdre.

Will got himself cleaned up, checked with Deirdre about something, then came over, sliding his arms around Nico. "You okay?"

Nico nodded a bit, still frozen. He just watched his baby girl as Meg fed her. "She's really here."

Will laughed softly, "I know. Look at her little hands!"

"Her feet." Nico breathed, finally daring to reach out and lightly touch her foot. "Ten perfect little toes."

Meg smiled up at them, "You act like you've never seen a newborn baby before. I know you have."

Nico grinned, "But this one's mine."

"Ours." Will corrected, sitting gently on the bed.

The all just watched the baby for a little while, then they had to let the midwives finish cleaning up.

Echo was clothed, and wrapped in a blanket, then handed back to Meg once she was sitting in bed again.

Nico and Will helped with the cleaning, receiving some last instructions on the care of both Meg and Echo, then the midwives left and it was just them, Meg, and their daughter.

They went back, sitting on either side of Meg so they could look at their daughter.

Echo's eyes opened briefly, just long enough for Nico to see that they were blue. He knew that most baby's eyes were blue at birth, but still. Echo's eyes were blue.

She made these tiny little noises, adorable noises.

"Nico, it's your turn to hold her." Meg said softly.

"What? No…" Nico shook his head, "W-will should—"

"I've already held her, remember? Go on, Nico. Hold our daughter." Will's eyes were soft, affectionate, encouraging.

Meg clicked her tongue and gently handed Echo to Nico, making sure her held her correctly. Securely. "Perfect."

Nico grinned down at her, "She's so tiny. She's perfect."

Will came over, helping Nico to stand with her, "Come on, we'll let Meg sleep for a while."

"Thank you. Just don't freak out if she starts crying. It's her only way of communicating." Meg was half asleep as she said it.

Nico was terrified he would hurt her, but he managed to walk out of the room with her, following Will. He knew he would never let anyone or anything hurt her. He wanted her to have a better childhood than he had. He wanted her to live a long, happy, healthy life. He wanted to teach her how to walk, how to behave, how to cook, to make her bed in the morning. To say Papa before Daddy.

There was a soft knock on their front door.

Will gave Nico a kiss, "We're Dads." Then he went to see who it was.

Nico listened, and heard Leo and Calypso speaking softly.

Will said they could come in and see the baby.

Nico grinned at the pride he heard in Will's voice. He couldn't believe it had all gone by so fast. And that he had thought that it had taken forever.

He was proud as their friends looked at his and Will's perfect little girl. Their perfect little Echo Lark. He was also grateful that they brought them food, since he was pretty sure there was no way he was finishing making that roast beef.

Will did eventually take Echo, not long after their friends had left. He held her close, whispering secret words to her while Nico watched from the doorway of the nursery.

Everything was so quiet, and peaceful.

Perfect.

Echo started to cry and Will looked up with a grin, "And so it begins."


	19. Parents

Nico had known being a parent was hard. That's why the gods sucked at it. They were lazy. He wasn't.

Exhausted, and sometimes lazy, of course. He wasn't perfect. But he was determined to be the best parent possible for Echo. He meant to take care of her to the best of his abilities. The first two months were wonderful, exhausting, frustrating, everything that being a new parent was, but with the help of Megara. She really made sure they knew what they were doing.

Which was good, since she was moving into her own apartment that day, two months after Echo had been born.

She passed Echo over to Nico, then caressed the fine golden hair on the baby's head. "You take care, Nico."

"I will. Back to Thursday dinners?"

She smiled, nodding a bit, "I'd like that." She kissed his cheek.

He gave her a sort of sad smile. He liked having her in their house. Another adult to help keep him sane while Will was at work.

She hugged Will, "Don't overwork yourself. Take care of Nico."

He grinned at her, "One year, and if we still want more kids."

"You can bring it up at a Thursday night dinner. I'm looking forward to being skinny for a while, though." She grinned, "I'll see you two around. Westfield isn't that big of a town."

"Are you and Travis going to try and find a way around your fate?"

She rolled her eyes, "Fate is fate. We're just happy to have someone special, right now. And even if we do get more serious, he knows we can't have kids. Not yet, anyway. Lucky I'm younger than him." She winked, then headed down the steps. "Six?"

"Five thirty." Nico called after her, "Or Will will complain."

She laughed, got in her car, blew a kiss (presumably to Echo), and drove away.

Will put his arm around Nico, "Looks like spring is coming."

"Yeah, glad for this bit of heatwave." Nico rested his head on Will's shoulder. "How many kids do you want?"

"Mm, I was thinking two or three."

"I was thinking four." Nico shrugged and went inside.

He could tell Will was grinning.

—

The next two kids were more of a surprise. They had been preparing for one up until the first ultrasound, but finding out that Megara was pregnant with twins…

Well, Nico was nervous. They had opted for her to use some of her gifts this time, to try and combine Will and Nico, however that worked, but that if she couldn't then the baby would be Nico's. She had assured them that she would do her best.

So, after finding out that they were twins…Nico's anxiety grew.

But it was countered a little by the cheerful little girl they already had. Their little Echo, who, at one and a half years old, was curious about everything and excited about just about everything as well. She had learned Daddy first, much to Nico's disappointed and against his teachings, but the doctors and Megara said she was a pretty advanced talker, which Nico and Will were immensely proud of.

When they had shown her the nursery for the twins, she had asked about everything in the room (sometimes more than once) and asked why. Then she just looked confused for a moment, would ask for one of them to pick her up, and would repeat the same thing the next day with one or both of them.

And when they first brought the babies home from the hospital (Meg had them early, which wasn't unusual with twins, but she had decided a hospital birth was best when they found out they were twins), she had been quiet, hugging one of their legs, then going to the other.

But once she got to see them, she was infatuated. She seemed to understand to play quietly, she would follow Nico into the nursery so that he could keep an eye on her.

The biggest worry for Nico and Will was how they were going to cope with three daughters in the house. Especially, Leo had laughed at them, when the girls hit puberty. Or started dating.

Nico and Will decided about a month after the twins, Aurora and Anastasia (cliche to have matching first letters for their names, but Nico didn't care), were born, that their daughters weren't allowed to date until they were sixteen. They basically made a pact to raise their daughters understanding this rule, and make sure that the girl understood why the rule was there. They hoped it would help. Especially since they would have about two years between Echo being able to date and the twins.

He couldn't help but wonder what traits the twins got, and from whom. Aurora had dark hair, like Nico, and Anastasia had hair like cornsilk, like Meg. He would have said that little Ana had her Daddy's hair, but he remembered how much more golden Echo's had been, even as a baby.

And as their eyes settled into their true color—Aurora with Will's blue eyes, and Anastasia with pale blue, like Meg—Nico could see that the twins really were a mix of all three parties. Especially Aurora.

Their son, Declan, was born when the twins were about one and a half.

Echo was ecstatic to have another siblings, and even more ecstatic when she found out it was a boy.

She had no idea how excited her fathers were as well.

He had brown hair. And as he got older, his eyes settled into this mottled blue and brown that Nico couldn't help but grin over.

With their son, they decided they had enough. They were plenty busy.

Nico was constantly glad for Leo and Calypso being just down the road. Going over to their house so that Echo could play with Gareth, and because Calypso loved holding the twins or Declan. Leo would amaze Echo with his fire tricks. They just fell into an every Monday and Wednesday routine of going to each other's houses for playdates. And every other Tuesday, Percy or Annabeth would bring by Melina and Nolan to play with Echo and have coffee with Nico while Will was at work.

But nights were his favorite.

First he and Will would put Declan in his bed, already asleep. Then they would put the twins to bed, reading to them if they were still awake. Sometimes singing them a lullaby.

Then they would find Echo in her bedroom, all ready for them to tuck her in and read to her. Then Will would sing her a lullaby, that she sometimes sang along with, and they would both kiss her goodnight. Sweet dreams. That they loved her.

And she would grin at them, "I love you too, Papa. I love you too, Daddy." And she would snuggle down into her bed and fall asleep as they watched. So easily. So simply.

Then Will and Nico would collapse from exhaustion, or climb into bed and joke about how they should have stopped after Echo, or that it could only get better. Of course, some nights they were much better rested and not nearly as exhausted, but those nights were special. Involving a lot of quality time.

And that was before the nightmares started.

And before Megara had her and Travis' baby, Riley.


	20. Endings

Megara and Travis were excited. Sure, the excitement was a little dampened by her fate. But their son, Riley, was the light of their life.

She lived to see his first birthday, and died a couple weeks after in a devastatingly tragic accident.

The night she died, Nico and Will didn't know that that was what had all of their kids crying and terrified. They just knew that Echo had come to them in tears, saying she'd had a bad dream about people getting hurt. They had honestly been surprised that their little girl, who hated it when her siblings bumped their heads, had taken so long to have a bad dream.

Then Aurora woke up screaming. Not just a regular scream, either. That ear-drum shattering, blood-curdling, murder mystery scream that woke all the other kids and had their neighbors knocking on their front door to make sure everyone was okay.

It took Nico and Will hours to get their kids calm, cuddling them all in their bed and listening helplessly to the sobs that the little ones continued to let out.

So when Connor called early the following morning to tell them about the accident, Nico almost missed the call. Almost hit ignore.

But he answered.

Then the devastating news came crashing down on him, and a realization.

Echo's nightmare. She said that people were hurt. She said that she couldn't save 'her'.

If Nico thought really hard, he was pretty sure the time of death that they had for Megara Stoll was the same time that Aurora had woken up screaming.

He asked Echo about her nightmare when she woke up.

Her eyes filled with tears and she sniffed, "Aunt Meggie was hurt."

Nico didn't need to hear anymore. He just pulled her into his arms, silently wishing he had been wrong. That it had been a weird coincidence.

Half-blood dreams were never a coincidence.

He told Will what happened when his boyfriend woke up later that day.

Will shook his head, "Where?"

"Ohio, they were staying there for the night. She was going to the convenience store down the street to grab some snacks." Nico shook his head slowly, "Connor said that Travis is a wreck."

"His wife just got cr—" Will shook his head, "Killed. The mother of his child."

Nico looked up at Will, "The mother of our kids."

Will pulled Declan into his arms, noticing that the two and a half year old was awake. "And you think Echo…"

Nico nodded, "And Aurora."

Will looked down at the twins, then back at Nico, "Gods, what are we going to tell them?"

Nico shook his head, "Echo's probably the only one who will actually remember her later on. We just have to be gentle. She knows what monsters are…we…" Nico closed his eyes, shaking his head.

"You think she already knows."

"She definitely knows that something is wrong. She's been watching Sleeping Beauty, but she hasn't sung along with any of the songs."

Will gave a soft groan, "They're too young for this." He looked at their kids, down at their daughters and son.

"They'll be okay." Nico said, "Even Echo is young enough that this won't stick with her for too long. The funeral will be the hardest."

Will's eyes widened, "I didn't even think about the funeral."

Nico shrugged, "We might have to ask someone to babysit while we go."

"Who? All of our friends will be there for Travis, and because most of them knew her." Will's voice trembled ever so slightly.

"Eva Temple." Nico suggested.

Will shook his head, "Her and Eric are good friends of Travis, that's how Reyna and Eric met, remember?"

Nico ran a hand through his hair, "We'll have to take them." He rubbed at his eyes.

Will managed to shift the girls so that he could press his side to Nico's.

They were both quiet for a while, then Echo came in and quietly crawled up onto Nico's lap, kissed her little brother's cheek and rested her head on Nico's chest.

They had the family that Will had always dreamed of.

But Nico also felt like they had lost a member of the family they had created out of their friends. He felt like he had lost a best friend. A sister.

Oh gods.

He'd lost another sister.

Anastasia woke up, and sat up, looking at him with her pale blue eyes that were still full of sleep. Her long, light blonde hair was a mess. She gave a sleepy smile.

Nico nudged Will, "She looks like her mother." He was trying desperately not to cry.

Will looked, and gave something of a laughing sob. "Yeah, she does."

 _ **A/N. Thanks to everyone who has read this! This is the last part of Surrogacy, however, Solace Kids, the next story in this series, is up for your viewing pleasure! You all have been great! I love getting reviews. Lots of Love and Solangelo.**_


	21. Bonus

"I know I'll never see you all accomplish all that I know you will." Meg started, looking at the camera, "That is my fate. And I've accepted that. I just hope you all can forgive me for having you in spite of that."

She tucked her hair behind her ears, "I guess I should start with my oldest. Echo Lark. Gods, you're already gorgeous. And you sing so beautifully. I love singing with you. You're going to grow up to be the kindest, most generous, most compassionate person in existence because thats who your father is. And I've been told by some reliable sources that that is who I am. Kind, and generous." She gave a little laugh, looking down at the floor. "I want you to know that I love you. I believe that you will be amazing. I hope you never lose that sweetness that I already see in you. The love for your siblings that you show. You're gonna outshine everyone, my little Lark."

She cleared her throat, "Anastasia Maria, I already know that you're going to be the girly one. You're so emotional, so…full of life. You take after me in many ways, but I hope you never know the heartaches that I did. You're going to spend your life as the other half of a balancing act with your twin, so remember that there is a time to lean toward and a time lean away in order to keep the balance. You're also gorgeous, all of kids are, so if I forget to say that for any of the rest of you, there it is. You're gorgeous and handsome."

"Aurora Avalon, you are going to have to be careful. You got your Papa's moodiness, his temper. Remember that darkness cannot be perceived if there is not first light to compare it to. But also, sometimes what people need is a good shadow in which to hide until it is safe once more. You're strong already, tough. You want to run and play and you are a real Papa's girl. Don't forget to show your daddy some love." She smiled, "You're going to dominate."

She took a sip of water, "Declan…" She looked upset, "You're my special boy. You're going to teach these girls how much they can love. Just remember to return that love." She seemed to want to say more, but she shook her head and glanced back down before looking up, a truly joyous smile on her face.

"Riley, my darling, we celebrated your first birthday yesterday. I fear that I won't see anymore. And I'm sorry that I have to leave you and your father." She wiped some tears away, "But I love you. I love all of you. And the beautiful thing is that you have these kids that are your family as well. You have family. My children. I will always love my children."

The video ended.

Travis let out a shaky breath and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands.

"Daddy? Was that really my mommy?" Riley asked, blinking at the screen.

Travis looked down at his six year old song, "Yeah, kiddo, that was your mommy."

"She was really pretty." He climbed into Travis' lap.

"That she was. And she loved you. She would sing to you all the time."

"Do you have videos of that?" Riley looked up at him with big blue eyes.

Travis nodded, "Somewhere, I'll look for them." He carried his son to his bed and tucked him in.

"Are they really my siblings?"

"Half-siblings, yes." Travis answered, smoothing his son's wild hair.

"We should show them this video, too." Riley said, smiling up at his dad.

Travis smiled back, "Next time we visit, we'll do just that. Goodnight, Riley. I love you."

"Love you too, Daddy."


	22. Bonus 2

**AN: Why are you getting a second bonus scene, you might be asking? Oh, because I skipped some stuff when I wrote this story because I didn't want to be bothered to write it, and every once in a while I decide I should. Call me insane. It's not like I don't know it.**

—1 year after Echo was born-

"This is ridiculous. Why did I agree to this?"

"Because you saw how happy it would make him." Cassie grinned at Nico, adjusting his tie for him. "Besides, considering how dead you're going to be for only inviting a couple people…"

"You, Meg, Travis, Leo and Calypso…you guys live the closest. And the Jacksons are in Manhattan." Nico defended himself.

Cassie laughed, "Besides, you told me you didn't want to leave the option for any of your kids to be Di Angelos open. You guys are going to have more kids, aren't you?"

He nodded, "We are. Already talked to Meg. She's fine with it. We'll do it after she and Travis get married in June."

"Which is next month." Meg closed the door behind her, then grinned at him. "It's time."

"Already? I'm not ready!" Nico panicked.

"You look great." Meg scoffed, "Besides, Will is waiting for you and you have this adorable little flower girl who's going to start crying soon if she doesn't see her fathers."

Nico managed a smile, "She's growing so fast."

Cassie laughed, "It gets faster. Trust me. Especially once you have another. Now go. Time for you to get married."

Nico nodded, steeled himself, and walked out.

Will looked great in the gray suit, with a navy shirt and a silver tie.

Nico felt a little better about his black suit, with the silver shirt and blue tie.

They met at the end, then walked together to the officiant.

"Addy! Apa!" Echo reached her hands out to her fathers.

Nico grinned and took her from Calypso, "You can be my bouquet any day, Echo."

The infant grinned at him and then sucked her thumb and leaned on his shoulder.

Will was grinning at him, "I love you."

"You better, we're getting married." Nico pointed out. "And we have a kid together. And we have all of the same friends. Like, literally, all of our friends."

"But which one are they going to kill for not inviting them?" Will pointed out.

Nico shook his head, "Shut up and say your vows."

The officiant cleared his throat, "We're not there yet."

Nico grunted and held onto Echo, reminding himself why he was doing this. His kids deserved a better life than the one he had. Di Angelo was basically cursed. It would be nice to be rid of it. To officially be one with the man he loved so dearly.

Echo started humming halfway through the dude's monologue.

"Look man, this is great and all, but we have maybe half an hour before our daughter starts crying or something so can we skip the chapter or something?" Will asked, barely taking his eyes off of Nico.

Nico shook his head, "Vows. Let's do vows."

The guy looked a little upset but they did the vows, and finally were (sort of) married. Then they did the whole kiss thing (whatever, Nico had better kisses at home). Then they signed the papers to make it fully legal.

Then Echo started crying because it was totally past her lunch time.

The group went back to the Valdez house and had awesome mexican food, and Meg and Travis entertained the munchkins because that's what Meg really loved to do and Travis was head over heels for her.

Echo eventually walked back to them, "Apa, addy? Nap?"

Will picked her up, "Yeah, we'll get you home for your nap."

Meg came over and quickly kissed her cheek. "See you guys in a couple weeks. We're going for twins, right?"

Nico nodded firmly, "Definitely."

Will grinned, "We're out of our minds."

"At least we're out of our minds together, husband." Nico snorted, "Okay, forget I said that. That was ridiculous."

Will laughed and they headed home with their daughter.


	23. Bonus 3

Nico stood there in shock, holding the screaming child at arm's length. "Will! Find the pacifier!"

Echo was sitting at his feet, looking up with confusion at the scene.

"I'm trying, but every time I bend over to look under stuff Anastasia tries to drop out of my arms!"

Echo gave a warning sniffle.

Nico looked at her, feeling that lately all-too-familiar panic rising. "Echo, sweety, it's okay. You're okay."

Her lower lip slid into a pout, and she sniffled again.

"Oh crap, why did we have twins?" Nico asked himself, trying to figure out what to do with the screaming, filthy child. He couldn't put her down, he couldn't wash her, he was just stuck.

Echo started a high-pitched whine that said that if he didn't do something soon, she would be in tears.

"Oh gods…okay, shh! Shh. Echo, Echo! This land is your land, this land Minos land, from California, to the New York Islands," He started snging.

Her face relaxed slowly and her head tilted.

"From redwood forests, to gulf-stream wa-aters, this land was made for you and me." He couldn't remember the second verse. "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I love you, please don't take my sunshine away."

Even Aurora was quieter now.

He couldnt remember other songs so he just made up another verse as he sang. "Since you're my sunshine, my only sunshine. I'll make you happy, all of my days. I'll let you know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away. I'll walk beside you, my little sunshine. I'll hold you up, dear, come what may. And I will love you, always and always. Please don't take my sunshine away. I'll always love you, my only sunshine. Even when I am old and gray. Even when you, have your own sunshine. Please don't take my sunshine…away."

Echo giggled, grinning up at him. "Sunshine!"

He had to crack a smile. "Yeah, baby. You're my sunshine."

"Damn you're cute with them." Will said from the doorway. "You got Aurora to be quiet."

Nico looked at his little raven-haired baby. "Yeah, I did."

Will popped the pacifier in her mouth. "To keep it that way."

"Why did we have twins again?"

"Because you don't know how to say no to me." Will picked up Echo.

"No! Papa!"

"Papa has to give Rory a bath." Will gave Nico a quick kiss. "Come on, we'll go sing more songs."

"Sing!" She beamed, then started singing something that resembled the itsy-bitsy spider.

Nico looked at his fussy girl. "You're the one that causes the trouble. I can see that already. Could you not?"


End file.
